World Grain - May 2018 - 72

FEATURE

KEEPING PESTS
out of your supply chain

Integrated Pest Management program is essential for ensuring food safety
by Chelle Hartzer

he food shipping industry has had to adapt over
the past few years, as supply chain regulations
have become more stringent in the evolving
global market. Particularly in the United States, implementing proactive measures to protect human food
products from contamination is a must.
With Food Safety and Modernization Act (FSMA)
regulations in full effect, all food manufacturing and
processing facilities need to have a written food safety
plan to help proactively protect their products against
potential contaminants.
As part of the food safety plan, pests must be taken
into consideration, so insects and wildlife alike must be
kept out of the facility and away from food products.
An Integrated Pest Management (IPM) program is the
best way to do this, and it should always be tied into the
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costly to resolve if they're not detected quickly.
In addition, a food safety plan should include preventive controls along the supply chain as determined by
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who will help determine the potential hazards in your
facility and should help author your food safety plan.
Even if suppliers are checking and implementing control measures to protect their products, pests are tough to
eliminate entirely. They are relentless in their pursuit of
food, water and shelter. Because your products are grainfocused, they're a food source for a variety of different
pests, which is why it's so important to watch for pests
throughout the supply chain.
The quicker you can detect a pest problem and more
accurately pinpoint where it originated from, the faster
you can resolve the issue. You need to form a communicative relationship with your suppliers to help ensure
your products aren't compromised upon arrival.
Make sure you're doing the following to avoid bring72

ing pests into your own facility or sending them to one
of your partners further down the supply chain:
x Inspect shipments for signs of pest activity, especially incoming shipments. Look for live or dead
insects and damage to the product itself.
x If products are packaged, ensure packages are
properly sealed and undamaged before transport.
x If a pest is found, segregate any compromised
product immediately to avoid spreading pests to
other goods or allowing them into the facility.
x Install monitoring devices in shipping and receiving areas to help detect and determine the number
of pests present.
Pest issues are tough to spot, so it may help to have
your pest management professional do a staff training
session to help your employees learn what these pests
look like and some potential signs of pest activity. Most
companies will do these trainings for free.
COMMON GRAIN PESTS
If you're looking for quick tips, below are some of the
most common pests you're likely to encounter in grain
processing environments.
x Stored Product Pests: there are different kinds of
stored product pests, but all are masters of thriving
in and around grain products undetected. The sawtoothed grain beetle, for example, is a tiny scavenger that will eat about anything but loves broken
grains and oats. Indian meal moths are another example, and these pests leave behind a distinctive
silk webbing near the surface of infested grains.
7KHVHDUHWKHPRVWOLNHO\SHVWV\RX¶OO¿QGRQLQcoming shipments, as they're experts at breaking
into and surviving within product packaging.
x Rodents: rats and mice carry numerous diseasecausing pathogens that they can spread by simply
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World Grain - May 2018

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