Rodents left bite marks on dog food, cat food and people food at a Miami grocery
State inspectors found rampant signs of rodents being around and into food for people and pets at a Miami grocery store Tuesday, enough to shut down three aisles of retail sales.
Those were just two of the five Stop Use Orders dropped on the Kwik Stop at 1405 NW 29th St. by Inspector James Zheng and other inspectors from the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
Unlike Department of Business and Professional Regulation restaurant inspectors, Ag Department inspectors can’t shut down a supermarket, grocery store, convenience store, retail bakery, food processor, food distributor or food storage facility. But, inspectors can slap Stop Use Orders on areas and equipment.
And, Inspector Zheng and his colleagues found that necessary on Tuesday. But, those weren’t the only problems they saw.
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▪ The backroom ice machine got a Stop Use Order for having “black, mold-like grime encrusted on the interior of the ice machine.”
▪ There was “no hand sink available for employees to use while using ice machine.”
▪ The handwash sink and toilet in the backroom had “heavy soil and grime” and was “producing an objectionable odor.”
▪ No matter what kind of odor employees produced there, they couldn’t wash or dry your hands — you could get them wet — because there were no paper towels or soap there.
▪ You’d want employees to be able to wash their hands, especially if they’re working around retail shelves with “multiple black rodent droppings...where pet food, pasta, sauces and chemicals are displayed and stored.”
▪ Apparently, rodents decided to poop where they eat. “Boxes of cat and dog food found with large rodent bite marks on retail shelf.” Also, “ripe brown banana found with rodent bite marks on a shelf in front of the register area.”
▪ This resulted in Stop Use Orders for the pet food aisle, a food aisle, household cleaning products aisle and shelving by the cash register. Also, all that food got thrown in the garbage.
▪ Also by the cash register, inspectors saw “multiple boxes with beverages stored directly on the floor...next to where water is leaking from ceiling.”
▪ The cold holding unit next to the cash register had hot dogs, mozzarella cheese, butter and yogurt kept well above 41 degrees, the temperature line of safe cold storage. Basura.
▪ A “heavy accumulation of mold-like growth” decorated a walk-in cooler door. The cooler’s fan guards were covered with “heavy dust accumulation” as were the shelves with juices, milk, eggs and drinks.
