A food business operator cannot allow live animals into the food premises, except for seafood, fish and shellfish in the kitchen or dining/drinking area.

You can choose to allow dogs in your outdoor dining area. To find out more about dogs in outdoor dining areas and tips for maintaining food safety standards, visit Queensland Government - dogs in outdoor dining areas.

“Pests” include birds, rodents, insects and spiders.

Animals and pests can carry bacteria and viruses that can contaminate food and make people sick. They may also contaminate food with hair, urine and faeces.

Pest birds, especially pigeons, are commonly found in food service settings. They can ruin your customers’ visit to your restaurant, cause expensive property damage and make your customers and/or employees unwell. Parasites and fungi in bird droppings can cause more than 60 human diseases, including histoplasmosis. Birds gather around roofs, ledges or outdoor dining patios. Pests can get into food premises in food and packaging material, as well as through doors and other openings. Pests might nest in roof spaces, and damage cables and pipe work. You must prevent pests from entering your food business and take steps to eradicate any that do get in. 

Prevention Measures

Outdoor, footpath or alfresco dining and drinking areas must be kept free from pest animals. While it might not be possible to prevent the occasional fly or pest bird coming into a footpath dining area, the food business operator must take all reasonable steps to limit pest entry.

To keep footpath dining areas free of pests:

• avoid placing bins outside as many pests are attracted to garbage. If you must place a bin in the outdoor dining area, ensure it has a tight-fitting lid and is regularly emptied
• when designing the footpath dining lay out, make sure you don’t create any spaces where pests can hide
• make sure the footpath dining area is lit up, so pests can be easily seen, and the area can be effectively cleaned. Be mindful of how lights are set up, especially at night as they can attract pests
• keep the footpath dining area clean and tidy at all times by removing dinnerware and wiping down tables as soon as customers leave
• keep the ground in your footpath dining area free of crumbs and food scraps
• make changes to the building to make it less attractive to pests by removing common breeding sites, filling in gaps in walls and ceiling cavities and installing bird spikes on ledges
• outdoor fans deter flying pests like flies, mosquitoes, bees and wasps in the footpath dining area. They will also make the temperature cool for your customers
• other common bird repellents are netting, chemical agents or electronic noisemakers that frighten birds

Take the following pest-proofing steps to stop pests in the footpath dining area coming into the food premises:

• install flyscreen doors or self-closing doors and pest strips on the bottom of doors to pest-proof entrances into the building
• install mesh screens at window openings or other ventilation openings
• seal openings where pipes pass through external walls to prevent pests such as rats and mice entering food handling areas

Eradication measures

Eradicate pest animals in footpath dining areas by:

• using chemicals (sprays or baits) or physical means (traps) to kill or remove pests from the area
• relocating pest birds and their nests, this must be done by a licensed professional and the birds must be treated ethically
•  hiring a licensed pest controller.

Care must be taken to make sure any pest control chemicals used do not contaminate food. It is highly recommended a licensed pest controller applies any pest control chemicals as chemicals must not be used near food. If you must use chemicals near food, use non-spray chemicals. If food does become contaminated or is likely to have become contaminated by chemicals, it must be thrown out. Any eating or drinking utensils or food contact surfaces contaminated during treatment must be cleaned and sanitised before use.

For more detailed information visit, Queensland Government - Pest control.