It would be even more interesting to see the number and kinds of health violations found in NYC’s restaurants. I’m sure the city is not anxious to release that information because it could be a costly tourist turnoff .
TAKING A BITE OUT OF THE BIG APPLE IS MORE DANGEROUS THAN YOU THINK: THE MANY HEALTH VIOLATIONS OF NYC MARKETS REVEALED INCLUDING MOUSE CARCASSES, COCKROACHES AND ROTTING MEAT
Of 600 health violations last year, one supermarket had 200 cockroaches living in its basement and a Brooklyn market had hundreds of mouse droppings
By Hugo Gye
Mail Online
October 15, 2013
Grocery stores in New York City have been accused of hundreds of health violations including infestations of cockroaches, dead mice and meat left to rot by being kept at unsafe temperatures, it has emerged.
The supermarkets which recorded large numbers of serious breaches include upmarket brands such as Whole Foods Market.
Among the most off-putting incidents found were a store using a baseball bat to grind meat, fridges with mould inside and the mouse droppings which were discovered in dozens of outlets.
The scale of the health violations found in the city was laid bare in an analysis of public health records from 2008 to 2013, carried out by the New York World.
Annual inspections of every grocery store in New York are carried out by the state Department of Agriculture and Markets, which records any incidents posing 'an immediate threat to the public health and welfare'.
Last year, inspectors found 597 serious violations - down from 1,100 in 2008.
The most common major offence of all is the presence of 'animal activity', particularly mouse droppings, which have been discovered in grocery stores more than 700 times in the past five years.
Another of the most frequent violations is the preparation of food on contaminated surfaces, or by workers who have not washed their hands properly.
In addition, meat and fish are often kept at the wrong temperature, the records showed, which causes them to go off more quickly and encourages the formation of illness-causing bacteria.
More unusual violations include the discovery of 200 cockroaches inside the basement of a branch of Pioneer Supermarkets in the Bronx.
The worst offender of all since 2008 has been a branch of Met Foods, formerly Fine Fare, in the Cypress Hills neighbourhood of Brooklyn.
A total of 72 serious violations were recorded at the supermarket over the past five years, including six mouse carcasses and hundreds of mouse droppings.
Other stores to have come in for criticism include high-end supermarkets such as Whole Foods, whose branch on Manhattan's Upper West Side recorded 12 major offences last year.
The store, which has become emblematic of the affluent middle class in New York, was found to contain fresh mouse droppings near the bakery, while meat grinders were encrusted with old food.
A spokesman for the company told the Daily News that 'citations are taken very seriously' and said that the firm was co-operating fully with health inspectors.
However, other popular chains did much better in the health records - Trader Joe's, one of the leading competitors to Whole Foods, recorded just one serious violation from 2008 to 2013.
The worst chain was Associated, a network of independent stores, with 739 serious offences across its 130 branches.
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