Overview
- The store had been closed for about five months after March–April inspections escalated from targeted deli and bakery shutdowns to a full operating permit suspension.
- Initial reports cited rodent droppings in multiple prep areas, live cockroaches in the bakery, snap traps behind equipment, and a captured adult female roof rat in the deli.
- Follow-up inspections on Sept. 9–10 noted a sanitized facility, door sweeps at all entry points, trimmed tree branches touching the building, and sealed structural gaps.
- Environmental Health Director Marilyn Underwood said a waiver to use banned anticoagulant rodenticides was denied, described the case as unusually lengthy, and pointed to a possible nearby field harborage.
- Whole Foods said it corrected all violations and completed building, parking-lot, and interior upgrades, as customers returned with both enthusiasm and lingering concerns.