Are fruit flies an issue for you?

I had lunch today at a place that I'd dearly love, for sentimental reasons, to put on my regular rotation. I swatted away or killed a fruit fly around my plate at least four times. That being a record, in my recollection, I mentioned it to my server. She apologized for it and said that it had been a problem all summer, not last summer, but the year before too... I'd pretty much stopped paying close attention to her talk by that point, since I do not see fruit flies as a seasonal or climatological problem, but rather a problem of the kind of food and/or food scraps that attract them being left out in the open too long. So no matter what she said, I suspected it had more to do with cleanliness than anything else.

It was a minor distraction, not nearly enough to make me worry my food wasn't safe to eat, but on the other hand, more fruit flies than I've encountered in any commercial establishment in recent memory. Just wondering, would this be a red flag for you, and if so, would you mention it to a manager, or just eat somewhere else?

I would just be happy to have my own house colony of fruit flies gone

I get annoyed too when fruit flies abound while I'm eating, but having worked in restaurants and, for that matter, my home kitchens, I acknowledge that getting rid of the annoyance can be incredibly difficult. Sometimes it seems impossible if you want to eat good food, so I tend to do my best to just ignore them.

Perhaps no one ever pondered this issue more deeply than Julius Henry Marx who once noted.... Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.

Katie wrote:I had lunch today at a place that I'd dearly love, for sentimental reasons, to put on my regular rotation. I swatted away or killed a fruit fly around my plate at least four times. That being a record, in my recollection, I mentioned it to my server. She apologized for it and said that it had been a problem all summer, not last summer, but the year before too... I'd pretty much stopped paying close attention to her talk by that point, since I do not see fruit flies as a seasonal or climatological problem, but rather a problem of the kind of food and/or food scraps that attract them being left out in the open too long. So no matter what she said, I suspected it had more to do with cleanliness than anything else.

It was a minor distraction, not nearly enough to make me worry my food wasn't safe to eat, but on the other hand, more fruit flies than I've encountered in any commercial establishment in recent memory. Just wondering, would this be a red flag for you, and if so, would you mention it to a manager, or just eat somewhere else?

Katie,

This is a very real problem for every foodservice operator, especially so this time of year. Literally every case of produce that comes in the back door contains either fruitflies or their eggs. They will survive on the smallest, most obscure tidbits of foodstuffs in and around the kitchen. A half glass of wine left unwashed overnight at the dish machine station becomes a swimming pool! The two yellow onions left out overnight from that 50 lb. bag that got put away in the walk in. The one bread basket containing two dinner rolls that the busboys forgot to dump as part of their closing duties. Garbage cans left open during food production without lids. A sticky from syrup soda gun at the bar. Bread crumbs at, around or under the bread slicing station. They will drink from the very small leak in the pipe under the three compartment sink, and then go hang out and lay eggs in the floor drains.

But if you are dilligent and remove every and any possible source of food and water along with help from a good pest control service, you will get rid of these suckers. The real problem is that many operators choose to ignore the problem rather than deal with it, meanwhile the little critters are laying eggs everywhere and before they know it...they have a full blown infestation!

Evil Ronnie

Katie wrote:I had lunch today at a place that I'd dearly love, for sentimental reasons, to put on my regular rotation. I swatted away or killed a fruit fly around my plate at least four times. That being a record, in my recollection, I mentioned it to my server. She apologized for it and said that it had been a problem all summer, not last summer, but the year before too... I'd pretty much stopped paying close attention to her talk by that point, since I do not see fruit flies as a seasonal or climatological problem, but rather a problem of the kind of food and/or food scraps that attract them being left out in the open too long. So no matter what she said, I suspected it had more to do with cleanliness than anything else.

It was a minor distraction, not nearly enough to make me worry my food wasn't safe to eat, but on the other hand, more fruit flies than I've encountered in any commercial establishment in recent memory. Just wondering, would this be a red flag for you, and if so, would you mention it to a manager, or just eat somewhere else?

I suggest you take your business to an establishment that only buys produce which has been treated with a protective layer of pesticides. Then the likelihood of fruit fly's annoying you while you are eating their food will be greatly reduced.

It's also possible that they are not fruit flies, but drain flies or fungus gnats. The 8 in of rain received last week, and the resultant flooded basements could be a factor.

http://lancaster.unl.edu/hort/Articles/ ... gnat.shtml

I work on fruit flies (Drosophila) and can say that, unlike houseflies (Musca), they're not known to carry any diseases. While they're a real problem for some wine growers, they're just a buzzing annoyance to diners. And remember, virtually everything we know about classical genetics was first discovered in the fruit fly!

Garbage cans left open during food production without lids

Funny you mention that, Ronnie, because I noticed, while the server was explaining that it had been a problem, that behind the bar, not 8 ft from where I was sitting, was an industrial-sized garbage can, lined with a garbage bag, with no lid on it. I know there's always going to be someplace behind a bar to toss garbage, but I suspected that given the size of this big can, it didn't get emptied very often.

No need to be snarky, Mikey. I did say that I wasn't overly concerned about the safety of the food. Just wondering what others here, especially those with experience working in restaurants, might have to say.

dk, pretty sure these were fruit flies. I've spent some time chasing the semidrugged darlings around under a microscope too.

Katie wrote:

No need to be snarky, Mikey. I did say that I wasn't overly concerned about the safety of the food. Just wondering what others here, especially those with experience working in restaurants, might have to say.

I knew that sticking that tongue smilie in there was a waste of time and effort.
Just wondering why you don't want pesticides, then are upset when the little benefactors of your "concern", fly by to say thanks.
I do have restaurant experience, btw, and have heard it all...

Did I ever say I'm anti pesticides? Did I say I was upset by the fruit flies? They were a nuisance, that's it. I had a conversation about it with the server at a restaurant and then came here to ask for other opinions.

Just got back from a trip to the nearest Sunset Foods. The places is packed with fresh fruit and veg, an open salad bar, a deli, food samples on offer ... and not a fruit fly in sight.

And I don't think the fruit flies at the restaurant I went to Saturday were there because the place specializes in pesticide-free products. I just think they should probably keep their garbage cans a little farther away from where the patrons are eating. And, as Evil Ronnie said, being a bit more diligent about keeping up on the kitchen cleanliness before the fruit fly situation gets out of control. I like canaries, but when I see them dying in a coal mine, I have to wonder.

Mikey wrote:Just wondering why you don't want pesticides, then are upset when the little benefactors of your "concern", fly by to say thanks.

Pesticide in a restaurant?

Darren72 wrote:Pesticide in a restaurant?

Of course, you are probably well aware that pesticides are common in eating areas, both in restaurants and in homes. We just don't call the pesticides, then, we call them "bug spray."

Mhays wrote:

Darren72 wrote:Pesticide in a restaurant?

Of course, you are probably well aware that pesticides are common in eating areas, both in restaurants and in homes. We just don't call the pesticides, then, we call them "bug spray."

Yes, of course. That wasn't the point.

Katie wrote: I've spent some time chasing the semidrugged darlings around under a microscope too.

Nice to see so many fellow "fly people" on the LTH! The typical question I used to get about my research from non-scientists always started with "Well, I have all these fruit flies in my kitchen..." One thing most people don't realize is that fruit flies are strongly attracted to the smell of yeast and vinegar.

Jen (now working on plants, not missing the smell of the flies, especially those population cages, yuck).

Hi,

Fruit flies are an annual visitor in my kitchen. When they arrive, I check my onion and potato bins to look for any rotted vegetables. These are nice nesting grounds for their eggs.

I bought recently a fruit fly trap at the hardware store, which is destined to be returned. I remembered when I got home the [url]http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=212506#p212506]wine bottle trick[/url]: filled a salad dressing cruet with half an inch of wine. It reduced the population considerably as they dive bombed into the wine and never got out.

If you read through the linked to thread, fruit flies are not considered disease carriers. They are benign pests, though who wants any pest?

Regards,

I have some sickly sweet, undrinkable Mayan liqueur that serves as my fruit-fly trapper. I put an inch or so in a small cup, then cover it with plastic wrap and poke a bunch of holes large enough for the suckers to nosedive through. It doesn't eliminate the problem, but keeps it under control. During tomato season, I find it nearly impossible to eliminate fruitflies completely.

Red wine vinegar in a very shallow pool, with a floater of dishwashing liquid on top. Works like a charm. The soap seems to hasten their collective demise.

While we're on the subject of fruit flies, I'd be curious to know about the methods people use to kill/trap them. We never had a problem when we lived in an air-conditioned 33rd floor condo in Chicago, but now that we're on a ground-floor, open-air apartment in San Diego, they're buzzing all over our produce.

Similar to JeffB, we've been using red wine (2 buck Chuck finally comes in handy) or apple cider vinegar in a shallow bowl with a few drops of dishwashing liquid. The detergent reduces the surface tension of the liquid so the flies drop right in. We place the bowl right next to our bananas and have had good success.

Anyone else care to share their battle tactics?

Jerry wrote:I work on fruit flies (Drosophila) and can say that, unlike houseflies (Musca), they're not known to carry any diseases. While they're a real problem for some wine growers, they're just a buzzing annoyance to diners.

That's useful to know; thanks, Jerry.

Pie-love wrote:

Katie wrote: I've spent some time chasing the semidrugged darlings around under a microscope too.

Nice to see so many fellow "fly people" on the LTH!

I must confess I remember fairly little detail of the scientific results, but I have fond memories of entertaining my mom and dad on trips home from college with stories of walking that fine line between over-ethering the fruit flies and killing them all, and under-ethering them and having them wake up and start staggering around on the microscope glass before I'd finished sorting them.

Puppy,

Rather than an open bowl, a bottle of some type seems to work wonders. They fly in, though they don't always understand how to fly out. I think some get into the juice, because they are curious. I think others end up in the drink because they exhaust themselves.

I think the plastic wrap with holes as Kenny described adds additional security to their flying in and never flying out.

If the bug population gets unpleasant, I have been known to vacuum the little buggers. I use the hose without any special tip. The fruit flies caught in the vacuum get sucked up. Some larger bugs like moths may be able to flap their wings wildly to avoid getting sucked in immediately. Give it a for more seconds, they slow just a wee bit and into the vacuum cleaner they go. I change the bag only when it is full. I never had any special odor issues.

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:If the bug population gets unpleasant, I have been known to vacuum the little buggers. I use the hose without any special tip. The fruit flies caught in the vacuum get sucked up. Some larger bugs like moths may be able to flap their wings wildly to avoid getting sucked in immediately. Give it a for more seconds, they slow just a wee bit and into the vacuum cleaner they go. I change the bag only when it is full. I never had any special odor issues.

This is how I deal with house centipedes (which are never anything but really, really unpleasant).

I find fruit flies to be a harmless by product of fresh and flavorful produce. It seems to me that all food stores/restaurants have at least a few diving around this time of year. I think that they can be very useful when it comes to picking out ripe and sweet produce. If you see a bunch of them all hovering over one particular tomato or melon, unless it is damaged, it will probably be sweeter than the others. This is really helpful with certain melons (particularly honeydew) that can be otherwise harder for the human nose to smell.

-Will

For fly traps, my old lab used a setup that takes advantage of the fact that fruit flies are attracted to yeast, but also like to fly up. Take a small, wide-mouthed bottle. Put some yeast and water in the bottom of the bottle. Make a cone out of an index card, leaving a tiny (i.e. fly-sized) opening at the point of the cone. Put the paper cone in the bottle, point down. Seal the gap between the jar and the cone with masking tape. Flies will fly in but cannot find the little hole to get out. Put it in the freezer to kill the flies after a couple of days.

Good luck.
Jen

Fans help too. We run box fans behind the bar all night after close. They can't land in that gale.

Jerry wrote:I work on fruit flies (Drosophila) and can say that, unlike houseflies (Musca), they're not known to carry any diseases. While they're a real problem for some wine growers, they're just a buzzing annoyance to diners.

I, too, am glad to know this. I had wondered about it. But why, then, does the city of Chicago close restaurants due to fruit fly infestation?

I use the cider vinegar and plastic wrap trick, too. Thankfully, this summer we haven't been troubled by fruit flies so far. (This year, the bug problem is spiders. )

Puppy wrote:Similar to JeffB, we've been using red wine (2 buck Chuck finally comes in handy) or apple cider vinegar in a shallow bowl with a few drops of dishwashing liquid. The detergent reduces the surface tension of the liquid so the flies drop right in. We place the bowl right next to our bananas and have had good success.

this is what we do, and it's been very effective. Also, make sure sink drains are clean and sprinkle a very generous encrusting of table salt in and around the drain when not in use. This prevents them from laying eggs in there.

I've never had an issue with fruit flies, but I must not have been careful in bringing some fruit or vegetables home recently, and I must have worsened the problem by leaving some on the counter.

Well, 1 cup apple cider vinegar in a jar, a few drops of dishwashing detergent too, left it on the counter, and in just a few hours, I'm already noticing a huge difference. There are very few of them flying around now, and there are so many that have entered and sunk to the bottom of the jar. I just can't believe how effective this is.

I use the apple cider vinegar and dish soap drizzle too. It works like a charm, though I'm not having any issues, YET.