Pest control contracts for food businesses: what one should cover

If your business prepares, stores or serves food, food hygiene law expects you to have adequate procedures in place to keep pests out and to control them if they get in. A pest prevention contract is the usual way to do that. Here is what is expected of you, what is at stake, and what a contract worth having should cover.

01Why food premises attract pests

Pests go where they find food, water, warmth and shelter, and a kitchen, food store or production unit offers all four. Rats, mice, cockroaches and flies contaminate food and surfaces and can carry bacteria such as salmonella and E. coli. That is why pest control sits alongside cleaning and temperature control as a basic part of food safety.

02Inspections and what is at stake

Food safety officers from your local council can visit food premises at any reasonable time, usually without an appointment. How often you are inspected depends on the type of business and its record. Pest activity is one of the things they look for, along with the condition of the building and how well you keep it clean.

If they find evidence of pests, the consequences range from advice and a lower hygiene rating to formal notices. Where there is an imminent risk to health, an officer can close the premises with a Hygiene Emergency Prohibition Notice, and a business can be prosecuted. The cost of a closure is not only the lost trading. A low hygiene rating or a published closure can stay with a business for a long time.

03What a pest prevention contract should include

• A survey first. No two premises are the same, so there should be no standard contract. The survey looks at the building, the way food and waste move through it, the surroundings and any history of activity.
• Visits set by risk. A small café and a busy production kitchen need different levels of cover. Frequency should come from the survey, not a price list.
• Monitoring. Rodent monitoring points, and flying insect control units where they are needed, placed to show activity early.
• Proofing recommendations. Gaps around pipes, worn door seals, damaged drains and open vents, identified in writing so they can be fixed.
• Reactive cover. Attendance between scheduled visits if you see something.
• Written records. What was found, what was done, what was used and where, and what you need to put right.

04Why the records matter

If pests are found, being able to show that you took all reasonable precautions is an important part of your position. Up-to-date service reports, a site plan of monitoring points, and evidence that recommendations were acted on are the kind of records that demonstrate due diligence. They also make an inspection simpler, because the answers to most of the officer's questions are already in the file.

05Your part of the arrangement

A contract supports your pest control. It does not take over your responsibility for it. The things that make the most difference happen every day, between visits:

• keeping food covered, sealed and off the floor
• cleaning under and behind equipment, not just the surfaces you can see
• emptying bins regularly and keeping lids closed and bin areas clean
• checking deliveries for signs of pests before they go into storage
• keeping doors closed and seals in good repair
• reporting droppings, gnawing or sightings straight away, and acting on the recommendations in each report