Summer is here! While you enjoy the day off and take in a ballgame, parade, or partake in a backyard barbeque, Central Florida Screens wants to remind you that unwanted pests are more than eager to crash the proceedings.
How do you keep flies, cockroaches, stinging insects, and ants from becoming a nuisance and a potential health threat to your picnic basket? By following good food safety practices and a healthy dose of common sense before, during, and after an outdoor meal, you can help to protect yourself, your family, and your guests.
Pests – especially stinging insects and ants – are attracted to foods that contain sugar, including soft drinks, cake frosting, barbeque sauces, and marinades. Flies and cockroaches have less-discriminating palates and will feast on crumbs, oils, grease, garbage, and waste. For flies, the smellier the food is, the better, as they are attracted to foul odors.
Aside from spoiling a perfectly good burger or bowl of fruit, these pests can spread harmful bacteria, including salmonella or E. coli, by coming in contact with your food after they have visited other less-appetizing items such as rotting garbage, feces, or animal carcasses.
When planning your summer picnic, or any outdoor event that involves food, make sure to follow good sanitation and food preparation practices. Some of the things you can do include:
-Pick up leftover bottles and wrappers and clean up crumbs and spills.
-Empty garbage or recycle bins frequently to make your picnic or cookout less attractive to these hungry pests.
-Keep food tightly covered in plastic containers or covered with foil or plastic wrap, before and after cooking.
-Do not leave soda cans uncovered, as the sugary ingredients can attract ants or stinging insects.
-Pest Activity on the Rise
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