Only last month, Kingshill Bakery was forced to recall all of its fresh bread products because of a possible rodent infestation.The firm also recalled its cakes, buns, traybakes and shortbread biscuits as a result of the infestation. Manufacturers are putting themselves at risk of serious stored product loss because they are unaware of the impact insects can have or how to protect their businesses from them, warned Rentokil's UK product manager Berwyn Evans.
Insects that feed on stored products, such as beetles, mites and moths, can cause damage to raw materials and contaminate a finished product if an infestation is not treated early, Evans added.
"A lot of manufacturers are in danger of being infested by hundreds of species of insects, which is really damaging to a firm's reputation and profitability," said Evans. "This needs confronting getting on top of this issue is important."
He warned that firms that failed to protect themselves against infestations could be forced to shut their sites down for fumigation at considerable cost in both time and money. Precaution was always better than cure, he said.
"Treating the whole plant can take several days. You have to close the plant and fumigate it, during all this time you are losing out on production," Evans said. "The gas used would also leave dead insects in any commodities they might be living in. Therefore it is really important to be proactive, not reactive to infestations." Evans added that infestations are more common than they should be because staff do not know what to look for.