November 5, 2019 / Media Mention / Refrigerated & Frozen Foods
Patricia Hottel, technical director for McCloud, shares insights on integrated pest food management with Refrigerated & Frozen Foods
Integrated pest management (IPM) is a strategy by the structural pest management industry, from agricultural pest management principles, over 40 years ago. The original stimulus for IPM was to provide a solution for pesticide resistance issues. Over the years, it has done this by reducing the amount of pesticide use while also increasing the overall efficacy and long-term control of pest problems.
In IPM’s basic form, the system establishes thresholds for pests with corresponding control actions for each pest level. These actions include multi-pronged approaches, beyond the use of pesticides, to enhance pest control. Initially, the IPM emphasis was reactionary. Once a pest reached a certain threshold, it was met with a controlled response. Today, there is a greater emphasis on proactive pest prevention. This allows a well-functioning program to focus on the integration of multiple control tools to create a prominent role for pest prevention.
Pat Hottel, technical director at McCloud Services, goes into detail on the steps a food facility should make in establishing a pest management program.