Taco Bell rats seen scurrying inside closed KFC/Taco Bell in New York City’s Greenwich Village
Rats cause another public relations setback for the company, enjoy a night of chicken and tacos
NEW YORK (CNN) -- A pack of a dozen or more rats running and playing inside a closed KFC/Taco Bell restaurant in New York City's Greenwich Village early Friday morning prompted shrieks from onlookers and fodder for the morning television talk shows, which aired video of the infestation.
The restaurant, on 6th Avenue near New York University, had been cited as recently as December for a number of health code violations, including evidence of rodents and live cockroaches.
KFC and Taco Bell is owned by Yum Brands - a publicly held corporation based in Louisville, Ky. The two restaurants often operate in the same rat-infested and e-coli encrusted retail space.
The company said in a written statement that the restaurant was inspected as recently as Thursday and tried to address the problem by doing construction in the basement. Ironically, it said that work may have temporarily worsened the infestation problem.
"This is completely unacceptable and is an absolute violation of our ‘high’ standards," the company statement says. "We've talked with the franchisee, who is actively addressing this issue, as is evident by the preventative construction in the basement yesterday that temporarily escalated the situation. (Let’s restate that: “…preventive construction…escalated the situation.”)
"This store will remain closed until this issue is completely resolved. The health department inspected the restaurant yesterday and we will ask them to return when work is complete to give the restaurant a clean bill of health"
Most Taco Bell restaurants are owned by franchisees and operated, at least during the daylight hours, by humans. Overnight, it is not uncommon for rodents to assume the helm and control the franchise until morning.
Public records indicate that the last listed owner on record for this franchise is Ratty McMouseterd of Madison, Conn. Calls to McMouseterd were answered with breathing and what sounded like large teeth chewing on the phone’s receiver and a bristling sound, not unlike whiskers rubbing against the hand set was also heard.
Although it passed its health inspections, the restaurant was cited for evidence of rodents several times in the past three years, among other violations. In its most recent inspection, the restaurant scored a 10 on the city Department of Health's inspection meter. A score of 28 or more indicates that the restaurant poses a public health hazard. (Allow us to restate this statistic: The store, which has a pack of wild rats running amok inside, scored a 10 on the Health inspection meter. That means it could have scored 17 points worse and still not been considered a health hazard. Yum.)
The restaurant's scores have improved from a 16 in 2004 and a 14 in March of 2006.
Still, the Department of Health has cited the restaurant for
1.) evidence of rodents
2.) live rodents
3.) rodents running and playing games amongst the food stuffs, and
4.) rodents who apparently were holding a gala event behind the fry cookers.
Also, insects and insects practicing unprotected sex next to the pickle jar and insects loitering and gathering near lights without a permit were cited in each of the past three years.
Spokeswoman Sara Markt said if there is an "imminent risk to health" - a "critical violation that can't be corrected" - closure could be a possibility, regardless of the potential negative impacts such an action might have on the rodent’s social calendars.
The Taco Bell chain suffered an enormous public relations setback last fall when dozens of people were sickened by E. coli bacteria, which the Center for Disease Control and Prevention traced back to the chain's supplier of lettuce. In even more startling news, the chain’s supplier of lettuce, as it turns out is a rodent.
The outbreak prompted the closure of many Taco Bell restaurants throughout the Northeast.
By File Boy
Rats cause another public relations setback for the company, enjoy a night of chicken and tacos
NEW YORK (CNN) -- A pack of a dozen or more rats running and playing inside a closed KFC/Taco Bell restaurant in New York City's Greenwich Village early Friday morning prompted shrieks from onlookers and fodder for the morning television talk shows, which aired video of the infestation.
The restaurant, on 6th Avenue near New York University, had been cited as recently as December for a number of health code violations, including evidence of rodents and live cockroaches.
KFC and Taco Bell is owned by Yum Brands - a publicly held corporation based in Louisville, Ky. The two restaurants often operate in the same rat-infested and e-coli encrusted retail space.
The company said in a written statement that the restaurant was inspected as recently as Thursday and tried to address the problem by doing construction in the basement. Ironically, it said that work may have temporarily worsened the infestation problem.
"This is completely unacceptable and is an absolute violation of our ‘high’ standards," the company statement says. "We've talked with the franchisee, who is actively addressing this issue, as is evident by the preventative construction in the basement yesterday that temporarily escalated the situation. (Let’s restate that: “…preventive construction…escalated the situation.”)
"This store will remain closed until this issue is completely resolved. The health department inspected the restaurant yesterday and we will ask them to return when work is complete to give the restaurant a clean bill of health"
Most Taco Bell restaurants are owned by franchisees and operated, at least during the daylight hours, by humans. Overnight, it is not uncommon for rodents to assume the helm and control the franchise until morning.
Public records indicate that the last listed owner on record for this franchise is Ratty McMouseterd of Madison, Conn. Calls to McMouseterd were answered with breathing and what sounded like large teeth chewing on the phone’s receiver and a bristling sound, not unlike whiskers rubbing against the hand set was also heard.
Although it passed its health inspections, the restaurant was cited for evidence of rodents several times in the past three years, among other violations. In its most recent inspection, the restaurant scored a 10 on the city Department of Health's inspection meter. A score of 28 or more indicates that the restaurant poses a public health hazard. (Allow us to restate this statistic: The store, which has a pack of wild rats running amok inside, scored a 10 on the Health inspection meter. That means it could have scored 17 points worse and still not been considered a health hazard. Yum.)
The restaurant's scores have improved from a 16 in 2004 and a 14 in March of 2006.
Still, the Department of Health has cited the restaurant for
1.) evidence of rodents
2.) live rodents
3.) rodents running and playing games amongst the food stuffs, and
4.) rodents who apparently were holding a gala event behind the fry cookers.
Also, insects and insects practicing unprotected sex next to the pickle jar and insects loitering and gathering near lights without a permit were cited in each of the past three years.
Spokeswoman Sara Markt said if there is an "imminent risk to health" - a "critical violation that can't be corrected" - closure could be a possibility, regardless of the potential negative impacts such an action might have on the rodent’s social calendars.
The Taco Bell chain suffered an enormous public relations setback last fall when dozens of people were sickened by E. coli bacteria, which the Center for Disease Control and Prevention traced back to the chain's supplier of lettuce. In even more startling news, the chain’s supplier of lettuce, as it turns out is a rodent.
The outbreak prompted the closure of many Taco Bell restaurants throughout the Northeast.
By File Boy
posted by File Boy & D.Tkon at 1:45 PM
1 Comments:
I know there must be someone from the Village (or thereabouts) reading this blog regularly. No comments on the rodent tacos? C'mon! Are you still going to go there? Will you go to any taco bell? How about KFC? Would you eat chicken from a gas station if it was labeled "Fas Chicken"? We need answers people.
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