Structural defects have been remedied, and sanitation at the warehouse has become markedly better. The inspections will nevertheless continue until the authorities are one hundred per cent certain that all sanitary standards are being met.
Unannounced inspections by the district administration
It became known less than three weeks ago that rats had appeared at Norma‘s central warehouse in Regenstauf (Regensburg district). Since then, the district administration (Landratsamt), the local government authority for the district, has been inspecting the premises regularly and frequently. All inspections are carried out without prior notice, so the warehouse has no time to prepare for the inspectors’ arrival.
A spokesman for the administration noted that it is still too early to give an overall assessment. However, according to him, the inspections of recent weeks have begun to yield results, and the situation is improving noticeably.
What the latest inspection showed
According to a company spokesman, the latest inspection found the following:
- the inspectors found no structural defects;
- neither gnaw marks nor rat droppings were detected;
- cleaning and the general state of sanitation at the premises have markedly improved.
The level of sanitation achieved must now be consolidated over the long term. The administration’s spokesman stressed that significant improvements are already visible in pest control as well.
What was demanded of the company
In August, food inspectors found traces of rats and contamination resulting from their activity at the company’s warehouse. At the beginning of September, the district administration obliged the company to meet a number of sanitary requirements. These include repairing the roller shutter doors so that pests can no longer enter the warehouse, and active rat control. The former closes the pests’ way in; the latter reduces the number of those that have already appeared there. The district administration continues to check regularly how these requirements are being met.
Rats lived in the warehouse for about a year
According to Bavarian Broadcasting (BR), the rats apparently appeared in the warehouse about a year ago. Moreover, according to BR, on the instructions of the Regenstauf warehouse management, employees rejected only goods that were visibly gnawed. Products contaminated with faeces and urine were merely cleaned superficially and sent out for general sale.
What next
The improvements noted by the state inspectors are the result of pressure from the authorities on the discount chain’s management, and they reflect the state of the warehouse over the last two weeks, whereas the rats, according to BR, lived in the warehouse for about a year. The district administration’s assessment is therefore still only interim. The structural defects of the warehouse have been remedied, and no traces of rats were found at the latest inspection, but it is too early to conclude that the pest problem at one of the largest food warehouses in Bavaria has been resolved for good. The district administration intends to inform the public of further developments.
