Do you read Consumerist on your lunch break? Oops. Here’s a photo of something Richard colorfully calls “maggot stew” lining the bottom of his dog’s food dish, right after Banjo finished a heaping helping of Purina Beneful. Richard says Banjo seems okay so far, but we think it’s interesting that this is the second Beneful maggot story we’ve received in under a week. Read Richard’s full story below.
infestations
FDA: Pardon Me, But Your Bakery Warehouse Is Full Of "Rodent Excreta Pellets"
By 8.21.08
We’d never stopped to think about it before, but we were not surprised to learn that our government had a polite term for rodent feces. It’s “rodent excreta pellet,” and apparently a warehouse belonging to Capitol Cake, a Baltimore bakery specializing in fruitcake and pound cake, is full of them.
Dominick's Takes Its Fly Infested Grocery Store "Very Seriously"
By 8.8.08
THE QUOTE: “We go to great lengths for sanitation, and we have some of the highest store standards in the food industry,” [Dominick’s spokesperson] Redmond said. “The issue with fruit flies has been addressed. We took it very seriously.”
Those Aren't Bedbugs, Says Ohio Travelodge. They're Dirt!
By 7.16.08
People, we’re never going to attract Canadian tourists if we keep scaring the hell out of them with fireworks and bedbugs. Esmond and his girlfriend were staying at a Travelodge in Sandusky, Ohio on July 5th, and couldn’t sleep because of fellow Travelodge guests shooting off fireworks in the parking lot. Around 1:30 a.m. there was a loud boom:
United Airlines Flight Delayed For Hours Due To Tick Infestation
By 7.11.08
Ew! United Airlines 1178 was delayed 6 hours because a passenger spotted a tick hitching a ride in coach during a previous flight from Washington D.C. to Denver. The airline isn’t sure how the plane got tick infested, but had to temporarily pull the plane out of service while a crew cleaned it.
Closed: Too Much Rodent Poo At This Chicago Whole Foods
By 7.10.08
Over 100 rodent droppings in one cooler alone is too many, says the Chicago Department of Public Heath… and so the Lincoln Park Whole Foods has been closed until the management can eliminate the infestation. Ick.
Pizza Hut Is Sorry It Baked A Cockroach Into Your Pizza, Got Fined $35,000
By 7.7.08
Here’s a lovely little story from our friends down in Bellbowrie, Australia. It seems that they have a Pizza Hut in Bellbowrie, and that Pizza Hut has cockroaches. Lots of cockroaches. So many cockroaches, in fact, that it baked one alive into a meatlovers pizza.
U.S. Marshals Raid Rat-Infested PETCO Distribution Center
By 6.20.08
The FDA sent U.S. Marshals to seize “various animal food products” stored at a PETCO distribution center in Joliet, Illinois yesterday, because the storage conditions had been deemed unsanitary twice in a row:
The Sleep Number Difference Is Mold
By 5.17.08
A recent class action claims that Select Comfort Sleep Number beds are nothing more than overactive allergen mills. According to the suit, the bed’s faulty air chambers allow moisture to form under the mattress foam, providing a perfect breeding ground for mold spores.
Time Warner Delivers Modem, Cockroaches
By 4.22.08
Maybe Time Warner needs to include a decontamination protocol when it transfers reusable equipment between customers.
Hey, Thanks For The Bed Bugs!
By 4.14.08
Sarah is experiencing every traveler’s worst nightmare. Bed bugs!
I just started reading The Consumerist. I did a search on bedbugs to see if you had any posts, and then thought I’d tell you my own story after reading about the people who found bedbugs in a Santa Monica hotel. In August of last year, I stayed at the Holiday Inn in Santa Monica.
Rat-Infested KFC/Taco Bell Is Now A T-Mobile
By 12.26.07
Worried about consuming any type of food at the former location of the infamous rat-infested KFC/Taco Bell in New York City? We are too. That’s why we’re glad to hear that the new tenant is non other than our giant magenta friend, T-Mobile.
Vacuum Kills Fleas As Effectively As Poison, Say Researchers
By 12.19.07
If you end up with a bad case of Christmas Fleas next week—hey, we’re not judging—save yourself the expense of buying flea poison. “Vacuum cleaners kill fleas just as well as any poison, surprised U.S. researchers said,” noting that a “standard vacuum cleaner abuses the fleas so much it kills 96 percent of adult fleas and 100 percent of younger fleas.” Of course, you won’t be able to train them after that, but it’s your decision.
"$25,000 Dessert" Restaurant Closed Due To Cockroaches, Sewage, Mouse Droppings, Fly Infestations
By 11.15.07
New York’s famous Serendipity 3 restaurant, home of the world’s most expensive dessert (the $25,000 “Frrozen Haute Chocolate”), has been shut down by the New York City Health Department after the restaurant failed two health inspections in a month.
Watch Out For Bedbugs When Traveling
By 11.13.07
The next time you’re in a hotel, whether it’s a cheap day-rate one for your sad little affair or a luxurious business suite that the company has unwittingly paid for, check to see whether the mattress has an “allergy free” cover on it—it’s a codeword for “bedbug-proof.” Also, if you see trained beagles roaming the hotel sniffing out mold, there’s a good chance the “mold” is another codeword for “bedbug.” Hotels are quietly doing their best to locate and exterminate the insects to protect themselves from particularly vengeful lawsuits—but since an infestation can occur anywhere (it has nothing to do with “cleanliness” or sanitation), it’s a tough battle to win.
Pinkberry Yogurt Shop Is Vermin Infested
By 6.18.07
Oh, great. Here we go again: ABC7 New York has video of several mice running happily around the inside of trendier-than-thou frozen yogurt spot Pinkberry, located on the Upper East Side. The footage is gross, gross enough that it would dissuade us from eating there, but the Pinkberry faithful just didn’t seem to care when ABC7 showed them the footage and asked for comment:
We alerted customers about the mice. But today’s discovery didn’t affect the line that did continue to snake out the door.
Pizza Hut Worker Fired For Reporting Mice To Health Department
By 6.11.07
Health inspectors closed a Pizza Hut restaurant in east Raleigh after a worker found live mice inside it. The employee who notified the health department about the mice says she was fired for reporting the problem.
In an initial inspection, a heath department inspector found mouse droppings behind an ice machine, but gave the restaurant a passing grade because she didn’t find any live animals. A contractor put out glue traps, and when the worker in question arrived at the restaurant the next morning, she found 6 live mice stuck to the traps.
Rat Infested KFC/Taco Bell Closed Forever And Ever
By 5.3.07
Yum! Brands just issued a press release apologizing once again for that rat infested KFC/Taco Bell in NYC. Further, they confirmed that the rat infested restaurant had served its last customer.
Since the incident, this KFC-Taco Bell restaurant has been closed for business, and it will not reopen.
Done! No more KFC/Taco Bell. It’s gone forever and ever. It’s been abandoned to the rats who claimed it as their own.
