What's Bugging You?

One day a few weeks ago my wife and I dropped into a local eatery for a quick dinner. Within minutes, our server had arrived with the menus, and promptly took our orders. But as we sat waiting for our food to arrive, I spotted something crawling across the floor -- a cockroach -- and unfortunately my wife saw it, too.

Even though we were tired and hungry, our appetites evaporated at the sight of that solitary insect. To us it was an indication of unsanitary conditions, and although everything else seemed on par, we just weren't up for what that might bring. We told the server to cancel our order, and headed for the door. We haven't been back.

There's hardly a bigger turnoff for any customer than sighting a cockroach scurrying across the floor while waiting for his or her food to arrive. In fact, any type of insect or rodent may be an immediate signal that something is wrong, and will probably send customers scurrying out the door. And regardless of what you do, the word is bound to get out about pests in your pantry, and that kind of news travels fast and far. Without a doubt, the presence of any form of pest can be a major fly in the ointment.

The occurrence of pests in your restaurant is more than a major inconvenience. The damage done can easily range in the thousands of dollars, and that's not just from scaring away the paying patrons. Gnawing rodents can chew through equipment and furnishings, not to mention electrical, phone and data cables, creating hazards and fouling up phone and data systems. Insects such as termites can seriously damage the structure of a building. Fecal contamination can cause sickness in employees and customers, and food tainted by insects must be discarded. Even the common fruit fly has carried bacteria, including deadly E. coli.

. . . The occurrence of pests in your restaurant is more than a major inconvenience. -- Robert N. Rossier

Then there's the problem with the local health department. "This is perhaps the biggest concern," says Jim Tarara, director of research and development for the pest elimination division of Ecolab®. "The health departments in most areas have strict policies on presence of pest activity, and evidence of such could shut down the business for one to three days -- a very costly proposition. In some areas of the country, restaurants are required to post ratings, and pest activity often means a poor rating."