Fruit flies infest restaurant in Middletown, NJ

Challenge

I was sent to a new commercial account in Middletown, NJ. They were having an ongoing fruit fly problem and were looking for some solutions. Apparently the previous pest control company servicing the account was dropping the ball and many customers were complaining about seeing those pesky flies around and landing in their food.

Fruit flies are common structural pests frequently associated with fermenting fruit and vegetables. They easily develop in fermenting liquid in the bottom of garbage cans, on a dirty mop, or food. Fruit flies are best controlled by finding and eliminating the breeding material. The presence of adult flies indicates that the larvae are developing in some nearby fermenting materials. Complete and thorough sanitation is necessary to eliminate the source of the infestation.

I began my inspection in the kitchen, and right away I noticed several areas of concern.

Solution

As seen in the photos, the facility’s cleaning habits were not very good. I went to the manager and asked her to get down on the floor with me so she could actually see first-hand why her fruit fly problem was so severe. I then gave her our ten-point guide to managing sanitation in restaurants. After documenting all the sanitation issues I encountered, I handed the manager my written recommendations so she could share it with her staff. In restaurants, it takes everyone's involvement to maintain sanitary conditions. She thanked me for bringing those issues to her attention.

On my next service, I noticed drastic positive changes in the overall sanitation.  When speaking with the manager, she happily said the fruit fly problem was pretty much resolved.