RATS! Shocked customer takes video of rodents in popular grocery store



SEATTLE – There are rats at a Wallingford grocery store. A customer took video of the rodents scurrying down the aisles, under and around bulk food containers.

A spokeswoman for the QFC store in Seattle's Wallingford neighborhood told Q13 FOX News that nothing is more important than the safety of their food and the cleanliness of their store. They say they’ve already taken action.

But the customer who took the video says this problem should have never gotten to the point that it did.

“I was shocked, just completely shocked,” said Will Clarke.

At first, it was just one rat in the natural food section on the second floor of the store. But after Clarke alerted an employee, he saw more.

“There were three rats there, but I could hear more, kind of scurrying around under the aisle. There were clearly a lot of them," he said.

He added that the employee took a video of his own to show store managers.

We reached out to QFC and were told they took immediate action when they saw that video.  Spokeswoman Amanda Ip released the following statement:

”We thoroughly sanitized this area and, out of an abundance of caution, we discarded our bulk products. We are stepping up our pest control enforcement both in and around our store.  We have voluntarily contacted the King County Health Department and are going to be working closely with them.”



Erica Jones, a regular shopper at the QFC in Wallingford, said she had noticed the natural food section of the store was closed Sunday but she didn’t know why.

“Oh my goodness,” she said, when she found out about the rats. “I always shop upstairs and get granola and several organic brands for my son. I would freak out, that's terrifying.”

Even though she’s glad to hear the store and the Health Department are working to prevent future infestations, she’s not sure she’ll shop in that part of the store anymore.

“When there's one rat, there's usually hundreds. It's kind of scary, and does make me think about going up there again.”

But Clarke says this video hasn’t changed any of his shopping habits.

“I eat mostly food that's in boxes, so you can tell if it's tainted.”

QFC did restock their bulk products and re-open that part of the store earlier Monday.

They said they want customers to know they’re also working with neighbors in this area, to make sure that things like open trash containers aren’t causing potential problems.