The Brandywine Hundred Burger King ordered closed last week after a viral video of rodents scurrying among hamburger buns was open for business Tuesday morning.
The manager of the restaurant at 2802 Concord Pike declined to comment on the closing or the video posted Thursday, May 31, by Wilmington resident Shantel Johnson on her Facebook page.
Her post said: "Don’t go to Burger King on 202 (rats are) running all over their buns ... (at) Wilmington Delaware Concord Pike" and was accompanied by emojis of rats and vomiting.
Johnson could not be reached for comment. It's unclear how she obtained the video at the store at 2802 Concord Pike. The video had more than 570,000 views and 19,000 shares by Monday night.
The state Division of Public Health Office of Food Protection received a complaint on Friday, June 1, and video footage appeared to show rodents in bags of rolls at the Concord Pike Burger King, according to Andrea Wojcik, spokeswoman for the Division of Public Health.
State health inspectors went to the restaurant at 11:45 a.m. Friday to conduct a visual inspection of the premises and the complaint was founded, according to a report.
The Office of Food Protection ordered the Burger King, which has been in business since the 1960s, to cease operation immediately.
In a June 1 letter to the restaurant owner, Rackson Restaurants LLC, the Division of Public Health's Dr. Karyl Rattay ordered the restaurant closed due to an "imminent health hazard" because of "gross unsanitary conditions" and "rodent infestation."
A spokesperson for Burger King said Monday night in an email statement that the restaurant was independently owned and operated. The company has contacted the owner to "investigate this matter and ensure they take the appropriate measures."
Wojcik said the health department allowed the restaurant to reopen Monday afternoon following a re-inspection that found the issues had been addressed.
The restaurant was serving food and drinks Tuesday, but there were no customers in the store at 8 a.m. A sign on the front door said: "Now hiring cashiers and sandwich makers" and invited people to a job fair June 11 from 9 to 11 a.m.
"A career with Burger King is a career with a future!" the sign read. "When you work for us, you are part of one of the best restaurant companies in the world."
According to the inspection report from Friday, rodent droppings were found on and inside of the hamburger and chicken sandwich rolls. The plastic covering and the rolls themselves were chewed by the rodents. Wooden pallets that the rolls were stored on had droppings on them, the report said.
Droppings also were found in the floor near the ice machine, the water heater, under dry storage, near syrup storage boxes and behind fryers, the report said.
Seven pallets of buns and rolls were discarded due to the contamination, the report said. The inspector noted that during her visit, chicken sandwich rolls were being used. They were then discarded.
In addition to the rodent droppings, the restaurant's ceiling was leaking in the kitchen near the storage and food line, the report said. Flies were coming from a drain close to where the rolls and buns are stored.
The inspector said in her report that the restaurant will be reinspected on Monday and at that time a risk control plan will be discussed.She said she will require management to show her a current pest service report, which must state that "service has increased and identify possible entrance points."
The employees also must be trained on "food security issues" and documentation of that training will be needed for re-inspection, the report said. A new policy must be created for the delivery of bread.
In the re-inspection report, the inspector said she met with the owner and management team, who gave her documents about an updated delivery process, pest service and employee training.
During the re-inspection, two mice were removed from a trap, the report said. Repairs were made to the broken drain and holes in the walls were fixed to prevent rodents. The restaurant will have weekly pest service until the "issue is eliminated."
The inspector saw no mouse droppings in the facility and all rolls and buns had been discarded. The pallets, which held the bread, were cleaned and sanitized. The ceiling was no longer leeking and no flies were found, the report said.
The Burger King location will have to complete a food establishment risk control plan "address key violations that caused (the) closure," the report said.
Wojcik said Public Health rules barred her from identifying who contacted the health department.
She said it is not "out of ordinary" for the state Division of Public Health Office of Food Protection (OFP) to receive complaints about restaurants.
“While we know that rodents are attracted to easily available food sources, the DPH Office of Food Protection (OFP) conducts routine inspections with food establishments to ensure the safety of the public’s food supply and ensure establishments are complying with standards of food safety, quality and the food code," she said.
"Another strength of our robust food safety and inspection program is following up on complaints. In this case, we responded the same day we received a complaint regarding a potential rodent infestation and immediately closed the restaurant due to gross unsanitary conditions."
Wojcik could not provide a list of other establishments that had been disciplined recently because of rodent problems. The state's public database has not been updated in 2018 because the state is getting a new database system, Wojcik said. Workers would have to spend hours to manually sift through paper reports to find details such as rodent problems, she said.
