Pest control for food manufacturers
A manufacturing site carries more raw material, more doors and more product per square metre than any kitchen. Its pest records have to hold up to a verifier, and often to a customer audit as well.
Which rules apply to pest control in a food factory?
It depends on what the factory makes. The Food Act 2014 places higher-risk manufacturing, such as meat, dairy and ready meals, under food control plans, and lower-risk manufacturing under national programmes at levels 3 and 2. The pest duties are close to identical in both, but the verification interval is not. A monitoring and reporting programme has to fit the measure your site sits under.
Examples by risk-based measure (Food Act 2014, Schedules 1 and 2)
| Measure | Examples of manufacturers | Verification after an acceptable start |
|---|---|---|
| Food control plan | Meat, poultry or fish products; dairy; meals and prepared foods; non-shelf-stable sauces and dips; wholesale bakeries | Between 3 and 18 months, set from results |
| National programme level 3 | Oils and fats; grain processing; herbs and spices; dry mix products; non-alcoholic beverages | Every 2 years |
| National programme level 2 | Confectionery; nuts and seeds; snack foods; shelf-stable sauces and preserves; frozen fruit and vegetables; bread-only bakeries | Every 3 years |
A longer interval is not a lighter duty. Between verifications, the operator remains responsible for inspecting, controlling and recording, and an unacceptable outcome shortens the interval.
Recording the type of pest and the extent of the infestation
Under a national programme, the Food Regulations 2015 add a specific duty: as soon as practicable after pests or their evidence are found, the operator keeps a record of the type of pest and the extent of the infestation. MPI's level 2 guidance puts it as keeping records of the amount and types of pests found. A tick in a box does not meet that.
For that reason the programme reports identify each catch by pest type and count it by monitoring point, so the extent is visible on the page. A finding of "insects" on a glue board in a flour store is not useful; a count of a named stored product insect at two adjacent points, with the batch area noted, is. The same detail helps food control plan sites, because it lets a verifier see a finding closed out.
Stored product insects and raw material intake
Stored product insects are beetles and moths that live in dry ingredients such as flour, grain, nuts, dried fruit and spices. They usually arrive inside an ingredient rather than through a door, and can spread through a dry store before anyone sees them. Control therefore starts at goods inward and depends on monitoring the stores, not only on treatment.
- Inspect at intakeCheck sacks, bulk bags and pallets for live insects, webbing and frass before they enter storage, and reject or quarantine on a written rule.
- Rotate stockFirst in, first out, with dates on every opened ingredient, so nothing sits long enough to develop an infestation.
- Monitor the storesPheromone or glue-board insect monitors in dry stores and near mixing areas, read and counted at every service visit.
- Clean the residueSpilt product under racking, in conveyor housings and inside equipment is where infestations persist after the stock is gone.
- Trace a findingWhen monitors catch, the record ties the catch to a location and a date so the ingredient lot can be identified.
Docks, doors and birds
The food rules require a place of food business to be designed, built and located, as far as reasonably practicable, to keep pests out, and storage facilities to stop pests entering and remaining. In a factory the weakest point is almost always the loading dock: doors held open for forklifts, dock levellers with open sides, and roof steel above where birds roost.
- Dock seals and leveller brush strips closed off at mouse size.
- Rapid-roll or strip doors kept shut between movements, with the rule written into dock procedures.
- External rodent stations along the dock apron and around waste compactors.
- Bird netting under the dock canopy, because birds are pests under the food rules when they are likely to make food unsafe or unsuitable. The bird control programme covers the methods.
Managing the pest contractor as part of the food safety system
MPI's guidance on pest control procedures expects the operator to name who is responsible for pest control, including any external provider, and to check that the contractor targets the right pests at the agreed frequency. Pest control products must also be stored where they cannot contaminate food. A manufacturer should treat its contractor as a monitored supplier.
That means a current site plan held in the food safety records, a report after every visit, a scheduled trend review, and recommendations with a named owner and a close-out date. Ask any contractor for evidence that the people applying pesticides on your site are qualified urban pest management contractors: under the EPA's Hazardous Property Controls Notice 2017, as amended in 2020, a contractor applying certain urban pest management pesticides (broadly those classed as very toxic to aquatic life, and some listed substances) must hold a listed qualification, such as the New Zealand Certificate in Pest Operations (Level 3) (Urban Pest Control), or work under the guidance of someone who does. Each programme is delivered by our partner's technicians, working from the written scope agreed after the site audit.
Questions facility managers ask
Is pest control different for a national programme business?
The core duties are the same as under a food control plan: inspect, remove attractants, control pests and keep records. A national programme adds the record of pest type and extent, and has a longer verification interval after an acceptable start, which places more weight on the records kept in between.
Can toxic bait be used inside a food factory?
As a rule, rodenticide is kept to locked stations outside, and traps and non-toxic monitors are used inside production and storage areas. The regulations require pest control to be carried out without making food unsafe or unsuitable, and a rodent carrying bait is a contamination risk.
Will the programme cover a customer or retailer audit as well as MPI verification?
The reports and site plan are written to be read by any auditor. Customer audit standards often ask for specific items, such as trend analysis or a set number of internal monitors; send us the standard you are audited against and the scope will be written to meet it.
Related pages
Sources
- Food Act 2014, Schedules 1 and 2 (version as at 10 July 2026)
- Food Regulations 2015, regs 13, 46, 51, 58, 87 and 94
- MPI, National Programme 2 guidance, "Controlling pests" (December 2025)
- MPI, Guidance for developing good operating practice procedures: pest control (2011)
Request a site audit. Our partner's technician walks the site and checks the records your verifier or committee will ask for. You receive a written scope with a monitoring layout and a quoted visit schedule.