'Live mice' cause brief closure of Columbus Kroger

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- A grocery store in the Georgesville neighborhood briefly shut down after Columbus Public Health said it found evidence of rodents in the store.

An inspection on Wednesday led to the department forcing the Kroger, located at 1585 Georgesville Square Drive, to close. NBC4 obtained a copy of the Columbus Public Health inspector's report, which pointed to mice as the main reason for the closure.

As the inspector walked through the store, the first notes he made were about finding the dead pests.

"One dead mouse found underneath the bread slicer in the bakery area, two dead mice observed inside cardboard trap station box in front of the steam table in the deli area, one dead mouse observed inside cardboard trap station box in aisle 13, two dead mice observed inside cardboard trap station boxes in aisle 16, and one dead mouse observed in back walkway in front of bread storage," the inspector wrote.

Later in the report, the inspector added that they found live rodents as well.

"One live mouse observed in aisle 16 near bagged chips and two live mice observed in the bread storage area in back room when rolling racks were pulled out," the inspector wrote.

The report also notes evidence the mice left behind. The inspector found droppings on and inside some of the store's bagged items, and "multiple bags of chips and popcorn were gnawed open." When they went inside the Kroger meat department's walk-in cooler, they found beef sirloin packages gnawed on as well.

The inspector gave Kroger a deadline of Monday to fix the issues he found. When an inspector came back to the store Thursday to follow up, Columbus Public Health said the Kroger store passed a second inspection. A copy of that report did not make any note or mention of mice.

After passing, Kroger employees were allowed to reopen the store in the morning.

A Kroger spokesperson did not acknowledge the inspector's findings related to mice when NBC4 reached out for comment, but did share its cleaning process.

"We implemented strict sanitation protocols, completed a thorough cleaning, and will maintain ongoing inspections. We apologize for the inconvenience and thank our customers for their patience," the spokesperson wrote.