Pin 04 · Kitchen pests and the food rules

Kitchen pests: what the food-safety rules expect, and what a home kitchen can borrow

Australia’s Food Standards Code requires every food business to do all it reasonably can to keep pests out of its premises and to get rid of any that get in. State food authorities explain how, and two state pages point to a route into a kitchen that is easy to miss: pests arriving in boxes, crates and packaging.

General information, not health advice. For a food business, your state or territory food authority or local council is the official place to check.

Pin 04, in orange, among the six. The pins mark articles, not places.

The national rule

What the Food Standards Code asks of a food business

Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) says that under Standard 3.2.2, Food Safety Practices and General Requirements, a business must do everything it reasonably can to prevent pest problems. That means stopping pests from entering or living in the food premises, and eradicating them from the premises and from vehicles used to transport food. Pests are covered in clause 24 of that standard and in Appendix 7 of Safe Food Australia, FSANZ’s guide to the food safety standards.

The Code is national, but each state and territory enforces it through its own body or local council. Two of them put the rule in their own words:

NSW Food Authority

All food businesses must take practical measures to prevent pests entering the premises, prevent them sheltering and breeding there, and eradicate any found. It names rodents, cockroaches, flies and ants, and birds such as pigeons, as the common pests.

ACT Government

A food business must make sure its premises are free from pests. Rats, mice, flies and cockroaches are the most common, and rats, mice and cockroaches are most active at night.

Entry routes

Three ways into a kitchen

In the delivery

The ACT’s page warns that insects, including weevils and beetles and their larvae, may already be in food or packaging delivered to a business, and that once settled in food containers or undisturbed places they multiply quickly. Victoria’s Department of Health says German cockroaches usually reach new places as stowaways in cardboard boxes or crates of food and drink, and that a few can breed into very large numbers.
Through gaps and doors

FSANZ’s tips for businesses include mesh screens on windows and doors, weather strips at the base of doors, self-closing doors or air curtains, keeping doors shut when not in use, and sealing holes and gaps in ceilings, walls and floors, including around pipes and wires.
Drawn by food, water and shelter

The NSW Food Authority says pests are attracted by food, water and shelter and can be hard to see during the day. For ants, Victoria’s page adds that pet food left outside can draw them towards the house.

Dry goods in glass jars with clip-down lids on a pantry shelf. Photo by filkaman on Pixabay

Inspection

Where to look, and what gives pests away

Places to look

From the NSW Food Authority’s list:

beneath and behind appliances that cook, heat or run on power
under washing-up and hand-washing areas
inside and under boxes, packaging and storage containers
behind equipment that is no longer used

Signs

From the ACT’s list, in brief:

bodies, live or dead, and eggs, larvae or pupae
droppings from cockroaches, rats or mice
damage to packaging, food, wires, woodwork, cardboard or paper
rodent footprints in spilt flour, and a musty smell
webbing from larvae binding food such as flour together

Victoria’s guidance for pest controllers adds a timing clue: cockroaches mostly come out at night, so active ones seen during the day often point to a large infestation.

A note on ants

Few of Australia’s ants are pests

Victoria’s Department of Health says Australia has over 4,000 known ant species and only a handful, mostly introduced, are pests; pest ants often nest in and around buildings and gather in food preparation areas. It also says ants are not related to termites and cannot damage sound timber. Cleaning up food scraps and residues around the house may reduce an infestation, the same page says.

Home treatment

Keeping treatments away from food

The food authorities’ cautions for a business doing its own pest control read just as well at home:

Use only products suitable for food premises, and take care not to contaminate food, equipment or surfaces that touch food.
Place traps, baits and pesticides where they, or dead pests, cannot reach food or food surfaces, and not above a food preparation area.
Keep chemicals in their original containers so the label and instructions stay with them, and never leave bait where other animals or children could eat it.
Victoria’s guidance for professionals rules out treating any surface food is handled on, asks for cupboards and pantries to be cleared before a treatment, and says chemicals must always be used as the label directs.

A business that cannot manage pests itself should call in professional help, FSANZ says, and the NSW Food Authority notes a business can manage pests itself or use a licensed pest controller. Pin 01 shows who licenses them in each state.

Food complaints

Reporting a pest in food you bought

Food complaints in Australia are investigated by state and territory authorities or your local council, FSANZ explains. Its advice if you find a problem such as foreign material in food:

do not eat the food you are worried about
keep the original container or packaging, and the object you found
refrigerate any uneaten portion
report it to your state or territory’s food regulator, with the brand, product, package size, codes and dates, and where and when you bought it

FSANZ keeps a list of every state and territory food regulator.