Rodents living in Quaker oatmeal and gnawing into dog food at a Miami food wholesaler
AUG. 24 UPDATE: Florida Department of Agriculture Inspector Fausto Ferrer cleared the areas under Stop Use Orders since the Aug. 13 inspection. Jetro Cash & Carry General Manager Robert Acevedo wouldn’t meet with a Miami Herald reporter who came to the warehouse nor did Restaurant Depot corporate office answer emailed questions about what was being done to remedy the warehouse’s problems.
State inspectors dropping by a food wholesaler’s Miami warehouse found rodents making a living room inside Quaker oatmeal, making a toilet in an area behind Pedigree dog food and turning the area behind ramen noodles into a morgue.
That’s why Florida Department of Agriculture inspectors hit Restaurant Depot Jetro Cash & Carry with a flurry of Stop Use Orders and Stop Sale Orders on Tuesday.
Restaurant Depot’s website states that their inventory “includes everything a foodservice operator needs so you don’t have to make several stops to stock up on food and supplies” and “we firmly believe that Good Business Begins with Food Safety.”
Inspectors, for their part, noted, “your sanitation record for (Monday) does not reflect the conditions observed at the facility on (Tuesday), as evidenced by rodent droppings observed in different areas of the facility.”
To make clear, this is the Restaurant Depot location at 2041 NW 12th Ave., just north of Jackson Memorial Hospital, not the other Miami-Dade location in Medley. A December 2022 inspection at the Medley location, 8850 NW 77th Ct., found animal excreta on 7,500 pounds of salt and sugar.
Ag Department inspectors Fausto Ferrer and Araceli Harvie don’t possess the power to shut down an establishment, as Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation inspectors of restaurants can.
READ MORE: A Domino’s Pizza and another IHOP among Miami to Palm Beach inspection fails
But, they can drop Stop Use Orders on equipment and entire areas of the business being inspected.
That happened.
Stop Sale Orders: 12 32-ounce packages of Quaker oatmeal; one 25-pound bag of Pedigree dog food; 12 5-pound packs of Jim Dandy grits; two 50-pound bags of Riceland extra long grain rice.
Stop Use Order: “the back export area of the warehouse and the entire west wall of the customer area of the facility and several aisles.”
Other observations from the inspection:
▪ “The ice machine chute from the ice machine located in the seafood area case is soiled.”
▪ “There were gaps under the three bay doors that lead to the export food storage area.” That’s a violation because it’s an opening for vermin, such as rodents.
READ MORE: Perdue recalls 167,000 pounds of frozen chicken after metal was found inside
▪ “Observed open rodent bait on the stand where Daisy brand baked products are displayed for customers.”
▪ “On the export side of the facility, observed a dead rodent on the glue board behind pallets of ramen noodle soup...two dead rodents on the north wall of the building where Pedigree dried dog food (was).”
▪ Rodent droppings sat on pallets of the dog food; on the west wall of the facility, where rice and flour are stored; and under oatmeal and corn meal pallets.
▪ Inspectors saw Quaker Oats oatmeal “with apparent rodent nesting material inside;” bags of Jim Dandy grits “with apparent rodent gnaws;” a bag of Pedigree dog food “with an apparent gnawed hole in the bag;” and pallets of Riceland rice “with rodent droppings on top of the bags and in the middle of the pallet.”
This story was originally published August 17, 2024 at 12:13 PM.
