The food court in the York Galleria Mall that was closed because of a cockroach infestation is now back open. The Department of Agriculture has allowed the food court to reopen saying all the issues have been addressed.
Earlier this week, nine restaurants inside the York Galleria closed after cockroaches were found. State officials came in and forced the area to be cleaned.
After a follow-up inspection they said it all looked good and they reopened the restaurants. The nine restaurants will now do their pest control together instead of individually.
Going forward, to prevent the bugs from coming back, state officials recommend regular cleaning and exterminations and seal any areas were the pests can get in. The mall will be inspected again in the coming months. It will not be scheduled.
UPDATE:
The Deputy Press Secretary of the PA Department of Agriculture has released the following statement:
Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture food sanitarians performed a follow-up inspection at the York Galleria Mall Food Court at approximately 8 a.m. this morning. All issues have been addressed and cleaning recommendations have been followed. All restaurants at the food court are in compliance and may resume operation.
A roach problem was so severe it led the York Galleria food court to shut down. Wednesday, cleaning crews were scrubbing nearly every surface.
The food court will likely remain closed for a total of 48 hours. It will have to be re-inspected before opening, which will likely happen Thursday.
A group of friends walking into the York Galleria won't be able to snack at the food court. It's shut down to take care of a massive cockroach infestation.
“I didn't really expect it to happen, but I wasn’t super surprised or anything,” stated Matthew Erford.
“Definitely thought it was weird because I've been here so many times and I've eaten, so wondering what hap to all that food?” added Heather Boyce. “Definitely worries me and it surprised me because like I said I ate never thinking there'd be anything like that found here.”
“I mean it's weird to think about,” agreed Danielle Boyce. “Like my sister said, we've come here since we were kids I mean I'd probably come again if it's open.”
A complaint to the Department of Agriculture was followed up on, and that's when the problem was discovered.
Eight of the nine restaurants were forced to close; Auntie Anne's was not but chose to anyway to clean their stations.
Workers scrubbed nearly every surface of the court Wednesday afternoon. A re-inspection is scheduled for Thursday. If it passes, the court will be ready to serve if patrons return.
“I'm a little skeptical about eating here again, I mean I feel better their looking, but still makes me uneasy and wonder what other places have stuff going on we don’t know about,” stated one person at the mall.
“Its really not a problem for me because I ate there before,” commented Emma Taylor. “It's not a problem for me.”
Krepps declined to go into great detail about the nature of the roach problem, but said that it was pervasive with both dead and live roaches.