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Rats and roaches are running wild through some Queens grocery stores, and politicians want them monitored and quickly shut down.
In Queens, the most common reason for a grocery to fail a state sanitary inspection was “insect, rodent, bird, or vermin activity likely to result in product contamination,” which inspectors noted in more than 500 inspections in 2012, a rate 17 percent higher than the state as a whole.
“I wouldn't want to sow anxiety, but there are good reasons that rodent infestation is a basis for failing inspection,” said Stephen Morse, a public health professor at Columbia University, by email. “Rodents can carry a number of infections that can be transmitted through contaminated food.”
Roaches and flies are less of a proven hazard, experts said, but they might indicate a pattern of poor cleanliness.
“Having good pest management is part of a good food safety program,” said Barbara Kowalcyk, a professor of food safety at North Carolina State University. “If you have a problem with pest management, that could be indicative of other problems.”
Two state legislators have introduced bills in 2013 that question the ability of inspectors to find and shut down these troubled stores.
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“Cutbacks in State funding and staffing in the Department of Agriculture and Markets have led to increased concerns about the abilities of the Department’s safety inspectors to adequately monitor the nearly 30,000 food establishments in the state,” an Assembly bill sponsored by Vivian Cook, D-Jamaica, reads.
Cook’s bill aims to create an advisory board on “food safety and inspection programs” that could recommend changes to state law.
The bill passed the Assembly in 2012 but was not taken up by the Senate.
Public payroll records show the department employed 110 inspectors in 2012, down from 115 on the payroll in 2010, making each inspector responsible for about 340 stores.
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Patch’s analysis of state records shows the department may have employed as many as 139 inspectors 10 years ago. Department representatives were not able to confirm these numbers and declined to discuss staffing levels in detail.
Our analysis also found the number of inspections has declined by 19 percent from a peak of about 42,000 in 2008 to 34,000 in 2012. A department spokesman did not respond to requests for comment on this statistic.
In the Senate, Jeff Klein, D-Bronx/Westchester, has introduced a bill that aims to tighten enforcement, by requiring a three-strikes approach, but appears to say the state’s inspection budget is adequate.
“Since 2000, the department has hired additional inspectors and is inspecting supermarkets more frequently,” the bill reads. “But far too many stores are still being allowed to fail four or more inspections before being closed down.”
More than 30 stores in New York City failed four or more inspections in 2012, but had not closed their doors, Patch’s analysis of state records shows.
Despite repeated requests over several weeks, Senator Klein was not available for comment, and the Department of Agriculture and Markets declined to provide a detailed budget.
