DENVER – A King Soopers in Denver’s Montclair neighborhood has a pest problem involving rodents that has spanned at least three months, according to Denver Department of Public Health and Environment (DDPHE) officials.
The King Soopers located at 1355 N. Krameria St. was subject to a food safety complaint around Nov. 30 of last year. Health inspectors followed up four days later and found rodent feces in the back storage area, according to Amber Campbell, a spokesperson for the DDPHE.
A follow-up inspection was conducted a few weeks later and the violation had been corrected, she said.
The rodents, however, weren’t done with the store.
“We did receive a new complaint about the rodent issue on Tuesday, Feb. 13,” Campbell told Denver7 Thursday.
A DDPHE investigator went to the store to conduct a third inspection and found – yet again – evidence of rodent feces “primarily around existing traps and in corners,” she said.
No rodent feces was found in the front customer area of the store, the spokeswoman said, adding that the manager of that King Soopers told the DDPHE inspector that the store has an active pest control service in place.
“The investigator also observed a broken drain opening at the base of one of the walls in the back area, which could be where the rodents are entering the building,” Campbell told Denver7.
The manager was made aware of the issue, the spokesperson said, but shoppers at the store won’t find out if the store is back in compliance until about the beginning of next month.
In a statement provided by a King Soopers spokesperson, company officials said the situation is now under control.
"One of our top priorities is to provide our customers with a clean and fresh shopping experience. Immediately upon learning of the incident, we enacted stringent cleaning and sanitization protocols throughout the store. Furthermore, we are in partnership with Ecolab, our professional pest control company, which conducts thorough inspections at this location three times a week. Following their visit today, Ecolab confirmed the absence of rodents."
Campbell said a reinspection to determine whether a store is compliant with health regulations usually happens a couple of weeks after the initial inspection, so a final determination won't be made available until the beginning of March.
