Filthy extraction ducts poses unnecessaryrisks
Odour and Fire hazard in restaurants
When restaurant owners fail to keep extraction ducts clean, it can cause a substantial threat because of odour and fire hazards.
Every year thousands of complaints are filed by local residents against restaurant owners, due to odour from exhaust ducts. Depending on the type of restaurant, odours can be a serious source of nuisance in residential and surrounding areas. This is caused by filthy exhaust ducts.
Three important factors which influence the emission of odour in restaurants are; size of the cooking facility, type of food prepared and type of cooking appliances used.
The table below shows the odour concentration and grease content of fumes in different types of restaurants.
When contaminated air flows into the duct, some of the particles will stick to the inside. In time these particles will build up inside the duct and pose risk for odour emission and fire hazard. The table tells us that most restaurants needs to be aware of this issue.
| Odour concentration | Grease content | ||||||||
| Catering establishment | Description | Low | Moderate | High | Very high | Low | Moderate | High | Very high |
| Tea shop | ✔ | ✔ | |||||||
| Pizza restaurant | Herb | ✔ | ✔ | ||||||
| Steakhouses | Fat | ✔ | ✔ | ||||||
| French | Herbs/garlic | ✔ | ✔ | ||||||
| Italian | Herbs/garlic | ✔ | ✔ | ||||||
| Most pubs | Fat | ✔ | ✔ | ||||||
| Chinese | Ginger, spices, oil | ✔ | ✔ | ||||||
| Japanese | Spices, oil | ✔ | ✔ | ||||||
| Cantonese | Spices, oil | ✔ | ✔ | ||||||
| Indian | Spices, oil | ✔ | ✔ | ||||||
| Thai | Spices, oil | ✔ | ✔ | ||||||
| Vietnamese | Spices, oil | ✔ | ✔ | ||||||
| Kebab houses | Fat, cooking meat | ✔ | ✔ | ||||||
| Fried chicken | Oil, cooking meat | ✔ | ✔ | ||||||
| Pubs (large turnover of deep-fried food) | Oil, cooking meat | ✔ | ✔ | ||||||
| Fish and chips | Oil | ✔ | ✔ | ||||||
| Fast food/burger | Oil, cooking meat | ✔ | ✔ | ||||||
From the table, it is also evident that most restaurants could emit moderate to high amounts of odour if the grease content in their exhaust ducts are not managed properly. However, proper management of your duct does not have to be expensive or time consuming. See here.