That pesky insect buzzing around a food is known by the (mentionable) names of house fly, common fly, filth fly or, simply, the fly. But by any name, Musca domestica is a PMP’s worst nightmare.
With fermenting vegetables and garbage refuse among its favorite feeding and breeding sites, there is little doubt that this common fly will pass along pathogens and disease organisms when it lands on a food, food container or food-contact surface. In addition to carrying the bacteria on its “feet,” a fly cannot digest solids, so it excretes stomach acids and regurgitates wherever it comes to rest.
The house fly has been shown to carry the disease organisms causing typoid fever, cholera, summer diarrhea, dysentery, tuberculosis, anthrax and ophthalmia, as well as parasitic worms. Even more relevant to PMPs and food processors, this filth fly has been implicated as a vector of the food-poisoning bacteria E. coli and Salmonella.
Under most conditions of a typical urban environment, no one should have to suffer flies indoors. But with its ubiquitous attractants for flies, a food plant often needs to go a step above the norm to keep these filth flies at bay. To do so, a six-step approach is recommended for your food plant customers:
1. Sanitation. Pure and simply, sanitation is the key in eliminating fly infestations, because it removes the odors that attract the flies and the food supply that enables them to live and breed. Sanitation should be maintained year round in any plant, but must be especially thorough during warm weather when fly activity is at its peak.
2. Cultural Measures. Practices should be altered or designed to minimize potential breeding sites around buildings. When ample food and egg-laying sites are available, most adult flies will remain near their breeding habitat. Thus, sanitation again comes into play, with external cleaning and sanitation critical to limiting fly numbers near the plant by reducing fly attractants. In addition, whenever possible and permissible, the PMP should check adjacent properties for fly breeding sources. While flies can travel long distances, most flies found in and around a building originate from breeding sources on or near the property.
3. Exclusion. Despite your best sanitation efforts, flies are attracted to plants because of odors and preferred temperatures that radiate from the building. Thus, doors should be equipped with self-closing devices; doors and windows be well-maintained at all times; cracks sealed; and care taken to keep employees from propping doors open during breaks.
4. Mechanical Control. Devices to trap or exclude flies include those such as:
- Air doors create a wall of strong air to keep flies from entering. But it is critical that these be correctly installed, or they can suck flies into the building.
- Because flies are attracted to light, insect light traps can provide good round-the-clock control where permitted by law. In addition, examination of an ILT’s insect catch can augment its purpose as a monitoring tool.
- Baits can be effectively used outside around trash areas and in livestock operations. Placing bait inside a fly station can protect the bait and extend its life.
- Traps can provide non-toxic fly control in exterior areas such as loading docks and livestock operations where flies can be a major issue. Traps are available in many types, styles and sizes to address fly problems in a wide variety of accounts.
5. Legal Issues. In addition to federal regulations and GMPs, many states, counties, cities and towns have and enforce their own specific health codes containing sections on prohibition of vermin. It can be advantageous for food plant staff to be proactive in forming a working relationship with local enforcement officials and participating in health officer associations.
6. Insecticide Treatment. Treatment with insecticides should be performed only after the consideration and implementation of the previous five initiatives. In most cases, application will be limited to specific sites where adult flies land to rest, and, in food plants, application is further limited by label restrictions for food areas and/or food-contact surfaces.
Excerpted from “Handbook of Pest Control” by Arnold Mallis (GIE Media).
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Eliminating to the Last Fly
What are some basics for you to emphasize at your food plant clients this summer? What are some practical solutions to prevent or decrease the presence of flying insects in general?
Do you see … open unscreened doors? I drive by food plants with these flaws and wonder how the plant can produce a clean, wholesome food product. And if these are visible from the outside, what other QA systematic flaws are present?
Problem: Opened/unscreened doors, windows. Solution: If necessary for air flow, durable screening should be installed. Quick roll-up nylon screens are most effective on dock doors. Automatic closures are effective for frequently used pedestrian doors. Problem: Not eliminating odor attractors — compactors, dumpsters, sewage. Solution: Set regular cleaning and sanitizing procedures for these critical areas. Chlorine sanitizes and deodorizes — and helps repel flies. Problem: White lights on the building, near entries, near air intakes. Solution: Use high-pressure sodium lighting with overhead shielding and position on a perimeter with lights aimed toward the building. Disable lights above most doors. Problem: Negative air pressure from outside to inside and inside from dirty to clean. Solution: Conduct a building air flow study, then establish clean, cleaner and cleanest zones to correct airflow direction. Sourcing dirty air into clean zones is a certain microbial hazard. Problem: Poorly positioned ILTs: too high, near food, in a wind tunnel. Solution: Do not use power-source proximity for positioning of ILTs, rather extend the power source as needed to install ILTs belt high at open sight lines in non-drafty areas near insect entries. Problem: The plant staff not knowing their pest management technician. Solution: You, the service technician, know the facility’s pest pressures. Go to lunch periodically with the plant’s management team and talk. Problem: Lack of temperature control. Solution: The optimum temperatures for flying insects are in the 80s. Whenever possible, modify environments to below 75oF to slow insect development, reduce attraction and extend product shelf life. Problem: A flying insect buffet — from sewage to Dumpster to roof drain to wet mulch to compactor (with negative air) to uncovered trash containers to floor drains to outdated products to food spillage to food production. Solution: Inspect your plant from the fly’s perspective.
Following IPM is the best solution for all pests. In addition to the areas covered in relation to house flies, the following can help your customers protect their operation against general flying insect activity:
Managing flying insects is not an easy task during the warm seasons; it requires combining numerous tactics 24/7. The core of managing flying insects effectively is exclusion, sanitation and temperature. Focus on the big three. The author has 30+ years in food quality assurance. E-mail him at odosland@giemedia.com. |
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