Food safety inspectors will more intentionally scrutinize the retail portion of local grocery stores following rodent activity at Kroger stores across Louisville, public health officials said Monday.
For months, customers have been complaining about seeing rodent droppings and chewed food and packaging at Kroger stores.
Health inspectors will visit the stores on La Grange Road, Goss Avenue and Holiday Manor Center weekly. The stores are required to implement a pest control program, as well as clean and disassemble shelves to eliminate places where animals can get in.
At the Goss store, there was a cooling trench leading outside that was improperly capped, as well as vulnerable areas under the shelving where there were old electrical lines running through the floor, said Samantha Gootee, a Louisville Metro food safety program manager.
“By finding those areas and eliminating and sealing those up properly, it has shown great improvement,” she said.
Stores that offer freshly prepared food as well as packaged food, such as Kroger and Meijer, are inspected twice a year. In contrast, stores without food made on-site, like Target and Aldi, are inspected yearly.
She said customer complaints help tell inspectors which stores to investigate. Since last July, the Louisville Metro Department of Public Health and Wellness received 57 complaints about Kroger stores. Of those, 21 were related to rodents and nine of those complaints were in the last two weeks.
“Our food service is more of the high-risk locations where we focus a lot of our attention, because it is such a high risk area for foodborne illnesses,” Gootee said. “But we are going to make sure that we are focusing on the retail side and making sure we're checking all the product to ensure that nothing is being sold that is adulterated.”
One Louisville store to close
The Kroger store on 4211 S. 3rd St. will close by the end of July, said Jessica Sharp, a spokesperson for the Kroger Co.
She said the store’s 64 employees will have the option to transfer to another store.
“This closure is part of a larger company-wide decision to run more efficiently and ensure the long-term health of our business,” Sharp said in an email.
Leaders of the Cincinnati-based grocery retail giant announced plans to shutter about 60 stores across the country by the end of 2026 on Friday, when they released first quarter earnings results.
Sharp said she did not have details to share about any other store closings in Kentucky.
In a press release, Kroger leaders said they expect a “modest financial benefit” as a result of the closures. They said they will reinvest the savings “back into the customer experience.”
