The Allegheny County Health Department issued a consumer alert for the Pittsburgh Popcorn Company following a less-than-tasty inspection report from its processing facility on Josephine Street. As CBS News Pittsburgh reported, multiple violations were discovered earlier this month, with rodents taking the lead role as the primary concern.
The inspection turned out to be quite revealing, with the discovery of various food products that rodents had taken the liberty to gnaw to apparently test the goods—including powdered cheese seasoning and chocolate morsels. As detailed by WPXI News, an inspector also reportedly saw a live mouse scurrying about during the assessment, further underscoring the facility's intrusion problem.
The rodent problems went beyond half-eaten products. Droppings were found in the packaging, tin storage, kettle rooms, and even near production equipment. This is an unsuitable environment for making popcorn—or any food. To make matters worse, inspectors also found a pack of used chewing tobacco on a production table near bagged food products, as CBS News Pittsburgh reported.
The problems weren't limited to rodents; there were also serious sanitation issues. As highlighted by WPXI News, two important handwashing stations—one in the production room and another near the kettle machine—had no soap or paper towels.
As of now, a date for re-inspection remains unclear, leaving the timeline for a possible resolution to these disconcerting findings unclear.
