December 21, 2009

Food Not so Glorious Food

London restaurants now paying price for cheap pest control

With Westminster City Council reporting a 100% increase in closure orders on food establishments in London due to outbreaks of pests, the message that cheap ineffective pest control does not work is beginning to gather momentum.  The Council is offering free pest control training to restaurant managers and, to quote their spokes person they are drilling home the importance of "having a professional contractor to prevent pests and show businesses how to spend their money wisely."

Said Ralph Izod, Managing Director, Dyno-Pest: "The fact is that most of these restaurants will have had some pest control in place, usually below the irreduceable minimum and cheap at the price.  They paid for this with pest outbreaks that were serious enough to close them down.  A well-known London-based restaurant recently ended up paying £66,000 for a six-day cleanup operation as well as being fined £30,000 for six pest related offences.  If the decision to appoint a pest contractor is based purely on the lowest price, then something is missing. Cheap pest control costs businesses huge amounts of money in the long run simply because there is insufficient margin to perform the job to the required standards.  The technicians are given just minutes to implement the treatment programme, regardless of whether this is adequate or not.  For any business, especially businesses that are involved in the preparation of food, the emphasis should always be on effective pest prevention and effective pest control.  Our focus as a leading pest prevention specialist is to deliver value through results.  Never has the old saying "pay the lowest price and think twice" been truer."

Commenting on a high profile restaurant that has recently made the headlines over multiple hygiene breaches, Cllr Daniel Astaire, Cabinet Member for Community Safety said: "These were appalling hygiene breaches, particularly for such a renowned restaurant chain which frankly should have known better.  We hope this serves as a lesson to all food businesses that such poor standards are not acceptable and we will always push for the strongest possible punishments against offenders.  The restaurant industry is a vital part of our economy, and we will not tolerate any behaviour which could jeopardise it or the safety of our millions of visitors."