Miller Magazine Issue: 122 February 2020

73 ARTICLE MILLER / FEBRUARY 2020 festation. The level shall be monitored by pheromone and UV traps. Although each factory has its own pest manage- ment plan a good target is to keep below 1,5 insects caught per trap per month. When this number is exceeded, a cont- rol method is needed. Mill fumigation with sulfuryl fluoride or even methyl bromide (in countries where still allowed) should be an option only when the mill can be made airti- ght. A method alternative to fumigation and still very suc- cessful is heat treatment of the entire mill and empty bins. This is a very fast method (24 hours) and gives excellent results when applied with precision. BULK LOADING AND PACKING LINES It is very common to have insect eggs in the flour. This is happening when the flour is not going through entole- ter machines (semolina), or when entoleters have not been properly maintained and do not offer a good kill of the eggs, or even when is all is properly used, a small number of eggs can still survive. Packing lines are often accused for hiding insect populati- ons. A thorough pest management system will identify the hot spots and packing lines would usually be among them. Areas with increased insect presence may be treated more often to keep populations down. WAREHOUSES Final products are stored in various places from the plant warehouse to whole sellers, retailers and in the consumer’s pantry. All these stores can keep an insect population that is able to infest new coming products. Monitoring for inse- cts is essential and a variety of control methods is available when a problem is found. PROCESS AND PRECISION The industry is full of HACCP certificates that offer no- thing more than a hanging paper. The industry is full of fumigation certificates that do not certify successful treat- ments. Papers do not solve problems. Accurately designed processes and precision application will keep the brand safe. Modern technology offers solutions, we should use every weapon available! Photo 4: Fumigation chambers by agrospecom.com