Tag Archives: Mice

Former Philly McDonald Employee’s video shows mice in a bun bag – but was it served?

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I’ve only ever seen a mouse at a restaurant once. I was visiting Halifax (that’s in Canada) and had dinner at a popular downtown eatery, Alfredo, Weinstien and Ho’s (the ultimate Italian-Deli-Asian food experience – which has apparently closed). For about 10 minutes we saw a mouse dart in and out of view grabbing food from the floor. After flagging our server down and alerting him to the mouse, he and the manager discretely moved some furniture and the mouse fled the room. The manager came over, thanked us for not making a scene and comped all of our meals (but said we had to pay for our bar tab); not a bad deal.

While mice infestations and droppings elicit a yuck-factor response from TV personalities and guests, I’d prefer to know about how well the staff manages the recognized foodborne illness risk factors: improper cooking temps; improper storage/holding temps; handwashing and hygiene; cross-contamination and safe sources.

In an excellently-titled post, I’m Ralphin’ It of the Day, The Daily What has a video of a mouse problem at a Philly McDonald’s. The video, taken by former employee Karruim Demaio shows a mouse running through a Big Mac bun bag. Pests (rodent and insect) are often a problem for food businesses. Warm, dark places with lots of food is a good spot for a mouse or flies to live. It’s not surprising that there are mice in a storage room.

What is surprising is that Demaio says a manager told him to brush droppings off of the buns and serve them. He says the same manager was seen wiping off pest droppings in the past.

Who knows whether the brush-and-serve actually happened – but that’s where the risk discussion lies. It’s not really a problem until the food makes it to a patron. Identifying a pest problem and dealing with it (which might have happened) happens in a business with a good food safety culture; brush-and-serve doesn’t. All the video shows is that a mouse was there.

Video Shows Mouse In Bag Of Big Mac Rolls: MyFoxPHILLY.com

Perfect for attracting vermin: Bar’rique restaurant closed by NYC health department

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The Bleecker Street restaurant and wine bar Bar’rique was shut down by the Health Department Friday after failing a health inspection.

DNA info reports the Health Department found evidence of mice and conditions that were perfect for attracting vermin, according to the city’s website.

Inspectors also found that the 263 Bleecker St. restaurant’s kitchen kept hot foods at insufficiently high temperatures and cold foods at insufficiently low temperatures.

Bar’rique did not immediately respond to inquiries about its plans.

Fancy food doesn’t mean safe food; Bobo edition

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New York magazine gave Bobo restaurant top marks and called it a "frenetically voguish … triumph of style over substance."

And apparently, safety.

DNAinfo reports health inspectors hit the chic West Village restaurant Bobo with 62 health violation points on Saturday, forcing it to close.

The Health Department found flies, evidence of mice and improperly washed surfaces that come in contact with food at the 181 W. 10th St. restaurant, according to the city’s website.

Bobo received a warning from the Health Department earlier this summer, when it racked up 38 violation points in a June 4 inspection, earning it a C grade.

Inspectors cited the eatery at the time for evidence of mice and cold foods being kept at temperatures that were too high.

Iowa bar’s mouse racing a public health threat

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Sheriffs are fighting their way through the seedy underbelly of Danville, Iowa, taking aim at unregulated gambling in its most adorable form — mouse racing.

Officers raided the Bucktail Lodge last week in search of code violations and shut down the popular races.

The sleepy country bar was also cited for several health violations from the on-site rodents, old food and trash in the building’s basement. The owners said those citations were absurd too.

"Nobody gets beyond the pool table over there, even if they’re drinking a beer, so if a mouse can jump out of there (race track) go run and drop a turd in his beer he’s doing something," said Scott Beach, owner of the Bucktail Lodge.

When the mice aren’t competing, they are adored as pets in the family’s apartment above the bar.

Mice could be cause of salmonella outbreak in Australia

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Benalla Rural City, north on Mebourne in Australia, has announced eight confirmed cases of salmonella poisoning while several suspected cases are awaiting the outcome of tests.

Benalla Rural City Council senior environmental health officer Callum Morrison told the Shepparton News in a small rural shire there were normally one or two cases of salmonella poisoning a year, so the spike in infections was unusual.

Calling lasercats: Pennsylvania pizza owner accused of ‘food terrorism by mice,’ sabotaging rivals

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A Pennsylvania pizza shop owner is in jail after he allegedly dumped live vermin in his competitors’ restaurants in a case cops are calling "food terrorism by mice."

Nikolas Galiatsatos, 47, who owns Nina’s Bella Pizzeria in Upper Darby walked into Verona Pizza, a few blocks away from his shop on Monday afternoon carrying a bag and asking to use the restroom.

When Fanis Facas, the owner of Verona’s, went to inspect the bathroom after hearing a banging noise, he discovered footprints on the toilet and a bag tucked into the ceiling. He turned the bag over to two officers that happened to be eating in the restaurant.

Cops suspected it was a possible drug deal, but instead of finding drugs in the bag, they found several mice, according to the Delaware County Daily Times.

Galiatsatos was then seen walking across the street to Uncle Nick’s Pizza. Cops said after he left the second pizza parlor they found another bag containing five living mice and one dead mouse in a trash can.

He was promptly arrested and now faces charges of criminal mischief, disorderly conduct, harassment and cruelty to animals.
 

Newborn mice found in chips at UK supermarket; it’s OK, we’re near a canal

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A Birmingham mum went wild in the aisles – when newborn mice burst out of crisp packets in a busy supermarket.

Stunned shopper Liz Wray was horrified when she saw half a dozen pink mice emerge from multipacks of crisps at a new Tesco store in Aston Lane, Aston.

The mum-of-one snapped pictures of the mice on her phone (right) and confronted the store manager but said she was horrified Tesco bosses decided not to shut the store down.

“All the staff did was put a cardboard box over the mice and closed aisle six,” said Liz, a health visitor from Kings Norton. “I was with a work colleague who reached out towards the crisps and started screaming.

“Suddenly these tiny pink things appeared from the multipacks and were lying in front of us.

“They were repulsive and made me feel revolting. There were half a dozen of them crawling out of different holes in the crisps and we couldn’t believe our eyes. …

“When I told the store manager, he said ‘We can’t do much about it because we are near a canal and railway track and the mice tend to come through the floor.’”

Sports bar in Florida Keys closed because of lotsa mice poop

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As I continue to search out my inner Jimmy Buffet or Keith Richards, I was saddened to hear that a Duval Street bar and restaurant in the Florida Keys was busted by state authorities on Thursday for having a dirty kitchen.

The Big ‘Uns Sports Bar and Grill at 218 Duval St. was closed after inspectors found fresh rat droppings, everywhere.

That included 27 "fresh" and "semi fresh" rodent droppings under the cook line, reach-in coolers, pizza oven and a prep table.

Big ‘Uns remained closed and shuttered on Friday, missing out on 2,000-plus cruise ship passengers flooding the lower end of Duval.
 

British dad finds dead mouse in loaf of bread

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A shocked dad went to make lunch for his children – and found a dead mouse embedded in the loaf of bread.

Stephen Forse, 41, bought the Hovis Best of Both loaf at a Tesco grocery store and had already used several slices when he made the gruesome discovery, The Sun reported.

The father of four, from Oxfordshire, central England said: "I felt quite ill – and even worse when an environmental health officer said the tail was missing. I wondered if we’d eaten that earlier."

None of the family fell ill. Premier Foods were fined £16,821 ($28,000) for failing to maintain acceptable standards at their site in Mitcham, south London. A spokesman said: "We apologize profusely."

Mouse in the house at NYC Shake Shack

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There were several empty tables around the garden at a Shake Shack in New York City the other night, and that, according to Grub Street New York, was because at least three mice kept emerging from the plants and approaching tables like beggars.

Three or four parties cluelessly sat down only to notice the furry fiends and either moved their tables away or scampered off with their tails between their legs. Of course, this isn’t anywhere near as scandalous as a chef caught tonguing toads; Shake Shack is located in a public park, after all, and mice have been spotted before.