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Nuneaton & Bedworth Borough Council,
Town Hall, Coton Road,
Nuneaton, Warwickshire,
CV11 5AA.

Tel: 024 7637 6376

Food Matters

Spud's Down to Earth Advice on...

RODENTS (RATS & MICE)

Rats and mice are totally unacceptable in a food environment in view of the potential for spreading foodborne pathogens and causing damage to goods and structures. To deal effectively with rats and mice it is advisable to have information about their biology and habits. Rodent control is a specialised field, so it is recommended that you use a competent and professional contractor.

Why are RODENTS (RATS & MICE) a problem?

1. Rodents spread disease...
Rodents are attracted to places that give them food, warmth, harbourage (protection) and moisture or water. In these environments, rodents can easily pick up pathogens (harmful germs) and subsequently contaminate food or food contact surfaces.

2. Rodents physically contaminate food...
Rodent bodies, droppings, urine and hair have all been known to physically contaminate foodstuffs.

3. Rodents cause damage to food, goods and structures...
Rodents will consume a wide range of foods and also attack non-food products including pipes and electrical cables (which can result in fires).

4. Rodents lose you customers/staff...
Loss of customers (and consequently profits) can arise from selling contaminated food that leads to complaint, or from incidents where customers have seen live rodents on food premises.

5. Rodents can lead to prosecution and a fine...
It is a legal requirement to protect against the risk of contamination from pests.

Know Your Foe!

The common rat (Rattus norvegicus) and the house mouse (Mus domesticus) can be distinguished by a number of differing characteristics, including:

Size - the rat is much larger
Habitat - both widely distributed, but only rats live in sewers and drains
Droppings - rat droppings are larger - about twice the length (approx. 12 mm)
Water - rats must have access to water for drinking

Proactive Action

To prevent an infestation at your food premises, you need to do 3 things:

1. Deter rodents
You can deter rodents by denying them the things that attract them to your premises (i.e. food, water and shelter).

For food, this will mean clearing up spillages promptly, effective cleaning of all food areas and suitable storage of food in rodent-proof containers. It essential to prevent access to food, particularly at night.
Remove any avoidable sources of water e.g. dripping taps, leaking roofs/gutters, blocked drains.
Shelter for rodents can be prevented by the removal of redundant equipment and the proper storage of all equipment and materials. All outside areas should be kept tidy and any vegetation kept short.

2. Rodent-proof your premises
Rodent-proofing is nothing more than ensuring there are physical barriers or other precautions in place where rodents are most likely to gain access to a building. These include:

Sewers/drains - need to be properly maintained
External surfaces
Doors & windows - to be well-fitting, and self-closing/kept closed
Service pipes - no gaps around them
Any required opening into a premises (e.g. air brick, ventilators) should have gaps no bigger the width of a standard biro/pencil (about 6mm)
Deliveries- all deliveries of goods and raw materials should be checked on arrival and before they are stored.

3. Survey Premises Regularly
You should carry out regular surveys/checks, focussing particularly on food storage rooms, behind equipment, in less accessible/undisturbed places and in waste storage areas. These checks may be something you may want to record and keep as part of any due diligence defence. In addition to a suggested blank proforma for you to use, we have also prepared a partially completed form to show how the proforma might be used - see links below. If you suspect you have a problem with rodents a way to confirm an infestation is to test bait all food rooms, for example using biscuits or a few blocks of chocolate. If these tests prove positive, and a rodent infestation has arisen on your premises, it must be eradicated as a matter of urgency. We would recommend that you always use a professional pest control contractor.

Eradication

Physical methods include:

spring-loaded break-back traps - probably the most widespread and successful trapping technique. Careful placement is required, usually across a rodent run.
sticky boards - stable/secured boards spread with a specially formulated glue on which rodents become stuck. Must be visited regularly (several times a day) for humane reasons. Physical methods are unlikely, however, to be able to contribute much to larger scale infestations as their effect may be too slow and ineffective.

Chemical methods (sometimes supplemented by trapping) are therefore preferred where the infestation is more significant. Chemical control is achieved by the use of chemical poisons that kill rats and mice - rodenticides. These are usually incorporated into edible baits (usually cereal) and liquids.

Rodenticide Safety
It should be remembered that rodenticides contain toxic chemicals and should therefore be treated as hazardous. No eradication treatment should be attempted by untrained personnel.

It is strongly recommended that proprietors should seek the services of a professional, specialist pest control contractor should they have a pest problem at their premises.

Where an eradication treatment is being carried out, it is essential that all staff are made aware of the measures being taken, the location of the baits that have been laid and all relevant safety and hygiene precautions to prevent the risk of contamination and to ensure the success of the treatment.

View/Download Contamination by Rodents Leaflet
PDF

Contamination by Rodents pdf (780 KB)

View/Download Additional Information

Rodents in Food Premises - Detailed information pdf (308 KB)

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Thursday 9 September 2010