The Ick Factor

Pests — they’re creepy, crawly and have the potential to cause serious damage to food products, consumer health and brand reputation. If you’re like me, your first instinct is to shy away from thinking about them at all.

My grandfather used to laugh as he told the story of the first time he took me out to lunch as a toddler, only to be thwarted by an errant fly landing on my arm and my subsequent screams of bloody murder. Later, in college, an apartment rodent infestation scared my roommate and I so silly that we trekked to my sister’s tiny dorm at midnight after seeing a mouse on the stove and all slept in her single bed. As my chronically online friends would say, pests give me the ick.

However, my perspective on pests changed about four years ago, when I started working as an editor on QA’s sister publication, Pest Control Technology (PCT). I’d been a journalist for years, but never on the “bug beat.”

As I learned about the structural pest control industry, I gained a better understanding — and a massive appreciation — of the pest management professionals (PMPs) who toil day in and day out to protect public health, food and property by implementing strategies that not only safely and effectively get rid of pests, but provide invaluable peace of mind to their clients.

Sure, I had thought about pests plenty before, and how much I didn’t like them invading my personal space. But I had never given much thought to the essential role PMPs play in keeping us safe and comfortable. And now, I don’t even shudder when I see a pest — I chalk that up to exposure therapy after viewing countless images of creepy crawlers in PCT (for some really good ones, check out this photo contest), as well as the knowledge I’ve been armed with as I learn more about pests, their behaviors and the best ways to defeat them.

In this issue, we share several resources to add to your pest management arsenal, including our cover story, which unpacks the latest research on flies, beetles, cockroaches, mice and other unwanted food facility invaders so you can better understand their behavior and biology. There’s also a pest management product guide and a column by AIB International’s Hanna Sharafi on proactive pest control to keep your facility audit-ready.

My advice: Don’t shy away from thinking about pests, and don’t give them the power to scare you. Arm yourself with knowledge and resources, stay up to date on the latest scientific research and partner with a PMP to create a plan of action for your facility. Those pests don’t stand a chance.