If you live in NYC, no matter where you are, it’s almost certainly true: your local grocery store, the place where you get your milk, your eggs, your organic produce, is really fucking gross. How do I know? The New York World just published a comprehensive survey of New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets inspection reports for every supermarket in the city. If you’re in the middle of lunch, stop reading (or eating) now.
Enter your zip code at your own risk.
My grocery store in Bed-Stuy was cited this year for “extensive accumulation of dark grime and mold” on an ice machine in the basement and “putrid,” “moldy” garlic and “slimy” decomposed bell peppers on the shelves in 2008. A friend’s in Astoria was cited for mouse carcasses in the meat cooler in 2009.
Pricier neighborhoods aren’t immune either: a Food Emporium on the Upper East Side was found to have mouse carcasses, droppings, and improperly stored food just last year, and the Upper West Side Whole Foods had a whopping 12 violations at its most recent inspection.
What’s a New Yorker to do? Shop at Trader Joe’s apparently, which has only logged one violation across all its NYC locations since 2008.
(Photo: Robert Couse-Baker/Flickr)
