Everyone knows cockroaches are nasty little creatures, but the history of the German roach is so much worse!
The German cockroach can be identified by its small size, brown color and two dark parallel streaks running from the head to the base of the wings. These insects typically feed at night and hide during the day in dark cracks and crevices near food sources.
Named for their association with foreign travel, they are believed to have originated in Africa but traveled to Europe with the slave trade. Nowadays, these insects are prevalent nearly everywhere humans congregate because they can survive on very little water and food.
One might hope that all restaurants would be wary of the risks associated with German cockroaches, but that doesn’t appear to be the case. The truth is, restaurants are actually one of the most common places for these creatures to make an appearance.
A recent visit to a Houston-area restaurant revealed plenty of evidence showing this pest in action in many different areas in and around the kitchen.
In the dining room, there was a half-empty soda on the table with no lid. A closer look revealed one unlucky roach inside.
Further into the kitchen area, dozens of dead cockroaches were scattered across a shelf in a dry goods storage area. It appears they were killed by having been sprayed with Raid or bleach cleaner.
The next stop along the journey was the dish area. The drains were all completely stopped up with food particles, but that wasn’t all that could be found down there. There were about five live American roaches crawling around in a mix of dirty dishwater and food particles that had been ground into the floor by heavy equipment such as the dish machine.
Lastly, the walk-in freezer was full of dead German roaches, but there were also many live ones crawling among them. Currently, these conditions probably won’t cause any health issues for patrons since it doesn’t appear that anyone working in this restaurant has touched or moved anything in the storage area where the insects were found.
However, if the conditions are allowed to remain as they are, then an increase of these pests will likely occur. At some point, there may be enough food particles on the floor that it becomes more appealing to eat off of than to use a fork or spoon.
This is especially true at night when customers aren’t around and employees are feeding themselves and eating without washing their hands. If this is the case, then not only will the customers see an increase in roaches but so too will those employees.
At present, if a pest control company were to be hired, they would probably treat inside of the restaurant as well as around it such as on nearby trees and bushes. However, the problem of roaches in restaurants will not go away until food particles and other harborage is removed and kept cleaned up.
Cleaning up these areas would be a good start to improving conditions and reducing German roach populations.
If this process were repeated weekly throughout the restaurant industry, then the problem of cockroaches in restaurants would be much better under control.
If you have a problem with German Roaches don’t hesitate any longer! Don’t wait for your patrons to find German Roaches crawling in your restaurant! Call CPL Pest Control today for your FREE Inspection and Quote! Call 281-683-6737! As always… ask for Chris!
Thanks for reading!
