What the Rules Say

Who May Apply Pesticide in a Utah Kitchen, and With What

Written for: Restaurant owners and managers deciding whether to treat a kitchen themselves; multi-unit operators writing policy; anyone cited under 4.7.4 or 4.7.5

Parts of this page marked Professional synthesis, not law are a Board Certified Entomologist's reading of published records. They are not legal rules, they are not legal advice, and they are written to read the same for an owner, a customer, or either side's counsel.

Two different laws answer two different questions. The Food Code answers what may be used in a kitchen: only a pesticide whose label allows use in a food establishment, used as the label says. Utah’s pesticide law answers who may apply it. This page quotes both, and it says plainly where the answer is not settled.

What may be used: the label

The Food Code’s rule for any poisonous or toxic material in a restaurant, adopted in Utah and cited in Salt Lake County as 4.7.5:

7-202.12 Conditions of Use. POISONOUS OR TOXIC MATERIALS shall be: (A) Used according to: (1) LAW and this Code, (2) Manufacturer’s use directions included in labeling, and, for a pesticide, manufacturer’s label instructions that state that use is allowed in a FOOD ESTABLISHMENT, P (3) The conditions of certification, if certification is required, for use of the pest control materials, P and (4) Additional conditions that may be established by the REGULATORY AUTHORITY; and — FDA Food Code 2022, § 7-202.12(A), Chapter 7 p. 2

Read (A)(2) twice. A pesticide is allowed in a food establishment only if its label says use in a food establishment is allowed. A home-use aerosol from a grocery shelf does not carry that statement, and that is why it is cited, as a critical item, when an inspector finds one in a kitchen. The restriction section says the same thing from the other side: only materials “required for the operation and maintenance of a FOOD ESTABLISHMENT” may be in the building at all (the Food Code page).

Federal law makes the label binding on everyone, licensed or not:

(G) to use any registered pesticide in a manner inconsistent with its labeling; — 7 U.S.C. 136j(a)(2)(G), in the list of acts that “It shall be unlawful for any person” to do, U.S. Code 2023 edition

Utah’s rule repeats it:

(3) A pesticide applicator shall follow the directions on a pesticide product label. — Utah Admin. Code R68-7-6(3), rule dated Sept. 7, 2022

Products labeled for food-handling establishments carry restrictions of their own. EPA’s 1973 notice on residual insecticides in food handling establishments is the origin of the label language that limits many products in “food areas” to crack-and-crevice or spot treatment while food is covered or removed, and that treats “nonfood areas” differently. The notice is published as a scanned image, so this site describes it rather than quoting it; the practical rule is on every such label, and a licensed applicator reads it before treating.

Who may apply: Utah’s licensing law

The Utah Pesticide Control Act sets the license requirement in one sentence:

(8) A person shall receive a license before applying: (a) a restricted use pesticide; or (b) a general use pesticide for hire or in exchange for compensation. — Utah Code 4-14-103(8)

And it defines the licensed person:

“Certified applicator” means an individual who is licensed by the department to apply: (a) a restricted use pesticide; or (b) a general use pesticide for hire or in exchange for compensation. — Utah Code 4-14-102(4)

The Department of Agriculture and Food’s rule adds this:

(c) A commercial pesticide applicator license is required for any individual who applies pesticides for a commercial business. No person shall purchase, use, or demonstrate the use of, any restricted use pesticide, or shall apply any pesticide for a commercial business, without becoming certified and obtaining a commercial pesticide applicator license issued by the department. — Utah Admin. Code R68-7-9(1)(c), rule dated Sept. 7, 2022

The rule also makes it an unlawful act for an employer to let an unlicensed employee apply:

(19) for an employer of a commercial or non-commercial pesticide applicator, to allow an employee to apply pesticide before that individual has successfully completed the required pesticide applicator certification process; — Utah Admin. Code R68-7-20(19), rule dated Sept. 7, 2022

The open question, stated as open

Put the two texts together and a question remains. The statute requires a license to apply a general use pesticide “for hire or in exchange for compensation.” The rule requires a commercial license for “any individual who applies pesticides for a commercial business.” A cook who sprays a general-use product on the employer’s own premises is applying a pesticide for a commercial business, and is paid, but is not a pest control contractor. Whether the Department of Agriculture and Food reads that as licensed work, and how it enforces it, was not found in any published UDAF text on the verification date. This site does not resolve it. It is listed as an open item, and the question belongs to UDAF’s pesticide program.

Professional synthesis, not law. For a manager, the open question is less important than it looks, because the Food Code’s label test already settles the practical case. A store-bought aerosol is not labeled for a food establishment, so it is a critical citation under 4.7.4 and 4.7.5 no matter who sprays it. A product that is labeled for food-handling establishments comes with restrictions on where and how, and the person applying it is answerable for every one of them under 7 U.S.C. 136j. The safe policy is the simple one: nothing is applied in the kitchen except by a licensed applicator, and staff are trained to report, not to spray (Five-Minute Staff Training).

What a licensed applicator must leave behind

A commercial applicator in Utah must record every application within 24 hours and keep the record two years. This is the record the Pest Records Binder is built to file:

(11) Records Maintained. Commercial applicators shall keep and maintain records of any pesticide applications. (a) These records shall be recorded within 24 hours after the pesticide application is made. (b) The application records shall include the following information: (i) the name and address of the person or entity for whom the pesticide is applied; (ii) the address of the pesticide application location, if the pesticide application location differs from Subsection R68-7-11(11)(a)(i) ; (iii) the total square footage or total size of the area to be treated with pesticides; (iv) a description of the specific target sites, crops, commodities, or stored products at the pesticide application location to which any pesticides are applied; (v) the time and date, including the month, day, and year when the pesticide was applied; (vi) the brand name of the pesticides, EPA registration number, and mix rate for any pesticides applied; (vii) the total amount of pesticides, including diluted or ready-to-use (RTU) pesticides, applied per location and per application; (viii) the purpose of the pesticide application, the pesticide target site, and pest to be treated; (ix) the name, commercial pesticide business address, and commercial pesticide applicator license number of the certified commercial pesticide applicator who applied the pesticides; and (c) Records shall be kept for a period of at least two years from the date of the pesticide application and shall be available for inspection by the department upon request. — Utah Admin. Code R68-7-11(11), rule dated Sept. 7, 2022

If your pest company’s service report does not show the product, its EPA registration number, the amount, the target site and the applicator’s license number, ask for a report that does. The rule requires it, and it is the record that answers an inspector, an insurer and a lawyer alike (Records that hold up).

The business itself must show its name and license number on what it gives you:

(b) In addition to the requirements of Subsection R68-7-16(3)(a), a pesticide business shall prominently display the pesticide business name and corresponding license number, as recorded on the license issued by the department, on: (i) customer proposals or contracts that include pest management services; (ii) service records and service notifications; and (iii) pesticide business service vehicles and trailers used in providing pest management services. — Utah Admin. Code R68-7-16(3)(b), rule dated Sept. 7, 2022

Restricted use pesticides

Some products are classified restricted use and may be applied only by a certified applicator or under one’s direct supervision; the Food Code says so at 7-202.12(C), and the county’s regulation carries it at 4.7.5(iii) (4.7.13 only sets the classification criteria). In a restaurant there is rarely a reason for one. If a service report names a restricted use product, the question to ask is why.