A customer bought a cheese roll which was contaminated with mouse droppings.
He initially thought the droppings were seeds and bit into them before realising what he was eating.
On investigating, EHO’s found the bakery contaminated with mouse droppings throughout, the company had been visited 72 times in the preceding year by their pest control company so knew they had a problem.
The EHO considered that the bakery posed a significant and imminent risk to public health and the store voluntarily closed the bakery.
Pest control is regularly overlooked by food businesses. The risk to public health and the business itself should not be overlooked. Ensure pest proofing is in place to prevent entry, and during cleaning and opening and closing checks look for signs of pests. If you have any concerns get a specialist company in promptly before the problem gets out of control.