Food Manufacturing & Processing
Food manufacturers face the highest pest control scrutiny of any UK sector. Shield builds the evidence into the service, with field biologist oversight and trend analysis your auditor can read directly.
At a Glance
Pest control in food manufacturing is a documented integrated pest management programme covering production, storage, packaging, welfare and external areas, with monitoring density and visit frequency set by a written risk assessment. It produces the evidence BRCGS Issue 9, SALSA, Red Tractor, AIB, ISO 22000 and FSSC 22000 require: numbered monitoring points, dated records, trend analysis and closed-out corrective actions.
Zone by Zone
A single monitoring standard across a food site is a failure waiting to be written up. Each zone earns its own controls.
No open bait, minimal chemical presence, monitoring chosen for the hygiene regime and validated with the QA team.
Insect monitoring and electronic fly killers positioned for line layout and lighting, serviced around production hours.
Goods-in inspection and stored product insect monitoring, because most introductions arrive rather than breed on site.
Perimeter-led rodent control, defined inspection routes and a required wall gap in racking.
The most common source of internal activity on an otherwise clean site, and the one most often under-monitored.
Drainage, vegetation, waste compounds and the boundary where the real pressure is intercepted.
The Programme
Written zone by zone, setting monitoring density, visit frequency and the controls each area justifies, reviewed when the site or process changes.
Visits worked around production and cleaning windows so monitoring happens without interrupting the line or breaching hygiene protocols.
Exclusion, drainage, door and fabric work raised first. Intervention only where the assessment justifies it, recorded with product, dose and operator.
Every point QR-coded and tied to a zone on the site plan, so a reading can always be traced to a place and a department.
Catch data trended continuously and interpreted, with root cause recorded — which is what AIB and BRCGS actually assess.
Recommendations photographed, assigned and tracked to evidenced completion rather than repeated visit after visit.
The Standards
Documented IPM, trend analysis of catch data and proven contractor competence.
Proportionate control and a demonstrable review cycle for smaller producers.
Points-scored auditing with heavy weight on root cause and trend interpretation.
Retailer Specifications
Retailers layer their own pest control requirements over BRCGS or SALSA, and they differ — on monitoring density, on visit frequency, on how fast a recommendation must be closed, and on what counts as acceptable evidence. Shield’s clients supply into major UK retail supply chains, and those requirements are built into the contract at survey rather than discovered during an audit.
Our Method
A field biologist walks production, storage, intake, welfare and the external curtilage, and writes the risk assessment zone by zone. Monitoring density and visit frequency follow from that, not from a price list. The proofing plan is issued alongside it and tracked as open actions until each item is closed and photographed. Monitoring runs continuously from day one, and the first documented trend review lands at ninety days — before most sites reach their next audit.
AI Pest Management
Insectram holds the zoned site plan, the monitoring readings, the trend analysis, the corrective action trail and the document folder — insurance, training records, risk assessments, COSHH, RAMS and treatment records. Your auditor can be granted read access for the audit window and read the evidence directly, which is faster for them and considerably less work for your technical team.
Pests We Manage
Introduced in raw materials, found in long-dwell stock
Production, waste and intake areas
Voids, cabling runs and cavity walls
Drainage and external pressure
Warm plant, ovens and dishwash areas
Floor joints and welfare areas
Intake canopies, roof runs and yards
Damp storage and packaging materials
Client Feedback
“Shield’s audit compliance support for our BRCGS certification has been invaluable. Their knowledge of the standards has made our audits much more streamlined.”
Food Manufacturing
“Shield’s pest awareness training for our food production team was fantastic. The course was informative, engaging, and tailored to our specific needs.”
Food Production
“We’ve been using Shield’s Insectram reporting system and it has changed how we manage pest control. Real-time updates and trend analysis keep us proactive.”
Multi-site Facilities
Areas We Cover
Based in Selby, servicing food production and processing sites across the region with a 24-hour emergency response.
A Shield field biologist will walk production, storage, intake, welfare and the external curtilage, write a zoned risk assessment, and set out a programme built around the standard you are certified to. No obligation, and you keep the assessment either way.
A: Typically every four weeks, and more frequently in high-risk zones or after activity. The risk assessment sets it and your standard has to accept the reasoning.
A: Not as a default, and generally not internally at all. Internal control is non-toxic monitoring and exclusion, with toxic control reserved for external use where the assessment justifies it under the CRRU Code.
A: Yes. A field biologist can attend and answer the auditor technical questions directly, and can carry out a documented pre-audit inspection beforehand.
