NYC grocery store closed over ‘severe’ unsanitary conditions: What state inspectors found
The Brief
A NYC grocery store was ordered to shut down by the state after an inspection revealed severe unsanitary conditions.
Among the violations state inspectors found were mouse bites on smoked salmon and sausages.
“In one case, they saw a rat and five babies in the food,” NYC Councilmember Gail Brewer said.
NEW YORK CITY – A grocery store on the Upper West Side was ordered to shut down by the state after an inspection revealed “severe” unsanitary conditions, including, according to officials, rats inside a cooler and pasta infested with beetles.
Timeline
A judge ordered Barzini’s, the popular grocery store at the corner of 91st St. and Broadway, to close back on Jan. 10 to clean up unsanitary conditions.
Why you should care
Among the violations state inspectors found were:
Mouse bites on smoked salmon and sausages.
Moldlike residues on food surfaces.
Dead cockroaches on deli cutting boards.
FOX 5 NY obtained a copy of the inspection, with pictures showing rat droppings around buckets of seafood salad and live rats meandering about.
In addition, the cheese that state inspectors found was one of many expired products, with dates as old as 2018.
What they’re saying
“In one case, they saw a rat and five babies in the food,” New York City Councilmember Gail Brewer, the one who got the State Department of Agriculture and Markets involved, said.
The manager of the store acknowledged the need for a thorough cleaning and plans to have a new inspection, hoping to reopen at a later date.
“We neglected for a couple of years to see how many people, they went out of business, they closed,” said Parviz Abde, manager at Barzini’s. “We stay open, and we have some fault. We’re going to fix it up.”
#NYC #grocery #store #closed #severe #unsanitary #conditions #state #inspectors