Facts | Control
| Trapping
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Dry storage pests compete with humans for food during both the pre-harvest and post-harvest periods. Direct losses from pests result from the actual consumption and contamination.
Dry storage pests can infest grain at the grain mill, the processor, the warehouse, the distributor, the retail store, the home and the trailers and railcars in which the grain and food products are transported.
Dry storage pests can also aid in the distribution of fungus spores. Some of these fungi produce mycotoxins in food, including aflatoxins, which are toxic to the liver and can cause certain cancers.
Control varies with the type of facility, the pest species, the type of food supporting the infestation and the legal and economic methods of the control available.
Preventing pests from entering a building where food is handled or stored and keeping pests out of food stored in bind or packaging should be the primary goal in a food protection program.
Proper disposal of waste grains is as important as good general outside sanitation.
Pheromone baited traps are one of the newer tools which should be part of the monitoring programs in most food processing facilities. Pheromones are chemicals secreted by animals in order to modify the behavior of other animals belonging to the same or closely related species. For pest management purposes, natural and synthetic pheromones, as well as pheromone mimics, can be used.
In addition to pheromone traps, insect light traps are useful tools to detect insect activity. The contents of these traps should be emptied and checked at least twice per month and the insects examined and identified.