McCloud Services, a leading pest management company servicing Illinois as well as Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Tennessee, and Wisconsin, is encouraging food facilities and food processors to revisit their filth fly prevention program this summer as these common summer pests carry many food borne pathogens that can be a risk to food quality and safety.
According to McCloud Services, flies as a group comprise 12 out of the 22 spots on the FDA’s dirty 22 list of pests to avoid near food. In addition to their body structures being equipped with pathogen-transferring hairs, filth flies travel long distances to and from sanitary and unsanitary places and breeding sites.
“Filth flies are one of the most recognizable insects because of their familiarity, and we tend to have a greater tolerance for them,” says Patricia Hottel, technical director. “However, we need to pay special attention to filth fly prevention as they can transmit many serious diseases and food borne pathogens. Prevention is critical, especially among the food industry.”
McCloud Services discusses several prevention methods in its white paper “Fly Familiarity and Food Safety,” including chemical controls and mechanical controls such as insect light traps and other tools to consider when putting together a filth fly management program.
