Parts of Charlottetown Atlantic Superstore remain closed because of mouse infestation

More than a month after an Atlantic Superstore in Charlottetown closed its bakery and deli because mouse droppings were found in food, those sections remain closed.

Parts of Charlottetown Atlantic Superstore remain closed because of mouse infestation 'We remain confident in the safety of the products we sell' Loblaw spokesperson says More than a month after an Atlantic Superstore in Charlottetown closed its bakery and deli after mouse droppings were found in food, those sections remain closed. P.E.I.'s Chief Public Health Office received a complaint in June from a customer who found mouse droppings in a bag of buns. It ordered a pause of in-house production in those two areas after visiting the store.

Tanya O'Brien, director of environmental health, said that June 4 public health order remains in place. "The criteria that we're looking for — for the pest infestation to be eliminated — has not been met yet," she said. "We need to see that they've taken all the measures necessary to prevent the entry of rodents into the premises and to ensure the food and food contact surfaces are protected from contamination."

O'Brien said the store is making progress, though. The province is receiving daily pest control reports for the entire store — located at 465 University Ave. — and environmental health officials will continue unannounced drop-in inspections. However, she said based on those reports from the store, mice remain present.

"It's not unusual to see rodent activity in food premises or grocery stores in general," she said. "The concern is when they get to a level where we consider it an infestation or where food or food-contact surfaces are being contaminated. But I'm not sure in this case what exactly led to the issue becoming as big as it is."

Mouse droppings in product from Atlantic Superstore forces bakery, deli areas to close - Video Why more rats and mice are being seen in Atlantic Canada, and what you can do about it In an email statement to CBC News, a spokesperson for Loblaw — the corporation that owns the Atlantic Superstore chain — said "food safety is fundamental to our business" and said the company continues to work with health officials. "We continue to enhance our pest management measures, following the recommendations of our third-party pest management provider and Environmental Health officials," it reads.

"We remain confident in the safety of the products we sell. Any product identified as potentially affected has been removed from sale." While provincial officials aren't sure how the mice issue got out of hand, Kevin Blanchard, owner of Dynamic Pest and Wildlife Management, has an idea.

He said it doesn't take long for a mouse to reproduce. "Every ... approximately 20 to 30 days, they can have a litter," Blanchard said. "It doesn't take a longer time to have an explosion in population, especially if resources are provided such as food, shelter and water and there's no stress given to them."

'Less live captures' O'Brien said Superstore has been co-operative in the process. The most recent inspection took place July 3. "I think it takes time to fix the situation and the Superstore is working with their pest control company to do it correctly because they don't want to deal with this in the future," she said.

"We're seeing less live captures on site, we're seeing less product damage being found. They are completing the corrective actions that are required by the pest control company." With files from Radio-Canada's Laura Meader