Bag Of Mice Included In Fast Food Order

[bloodrayne]

Bag Of Mice Included In Fast Food Order; Health Agency Sees It As Isolated Incident

A sub, a salad and snake food. One of those things wasn't on the menu.

Hampstead, North Carolina - A local man was shocked last week to find a bag of frozen mice with his to-go meal from Pizzas 2 U, a fast-food restaurant.

News of the unwanted side order broadsided restaurant owners Woody Sullivan and his wife, Lidka, who weren't working on the night of Jan. 11 when the incident occurred.

They first got wind of the problem when a county health specialist arrived at the restaurant Wednesday morning.

"I was speechless," said Woody Sullivan, who is also the chief of the Pender EMS.

The couple voluntarily closed for five hours to scour the kitchen, though the county specialist, an outside contractor and the Sullivans found no other problems.

The baby mice were sealed in a knotted plastic bag and never touched the salad or sandwich, which were also covered, according to a report by the Pender County Health Department.

After talking to his employees, Woody Sullivan said he suspects one of them bought the mice at a pet shop to feed a pet reptile, though he is unclear how the dead animals ended up with the order.

Both employees on duty that night were fired, despite professing their innocence, Woody Sullivan said.

Employees have to be responsible for what happens on their shift, especially something so serious, he said.

He and the customer, Rich Schlenleber, met for more than an hour to talk about the matter, with Schlenleber leaving with no hard feelings, Woody Sullivan said.

Schlenleber declined to comment for this story.

But Woody Sullivan said news of the incident could still devastate a business that he and his wife have been running with no problems for five years. The last sanitation grade was a 94, and the shop sponsors local softball teams and other community groups.

On Friday, the Sullivans gave Star-News reporters full access to the restaurant. The best way to quell concerns is to open everything to inspection, Woody Sullivan said.

"We're not hiding anything," he said.

The Pender County Health Department also sees the episode as an isolated accident and will not take any action against the Sullivans.

"He was just a victim of this," said Pam Overstreet, Pender's environmental health supervisor.