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cember, choosing to retire from the of Mr. Weiss, acknowledged that in-
butcher trade.
spectors have noted violations of the
Delle Cohen, Mr. Cohen's wife of 48 health code on their reports regarding
years and a partner in the family busi- cleanliness as well as evidence regard-
ness, said the cockroaches that inhab- ing cockroaches and rodents.
ited their place of business made their
"The things we do have control over,
way into the store by scaling a fire wall like cleanliness, we do take care of on a
which separated the butcher shop from daily basis," she said.
a neighboring shop, Star Bakery. Star
The problem with vermin, however,
is not a kosher bakery, but it is fre- is ongoing in part because of bugs con-
quented by Jewish clientele.
cealed in daily deliveries and rats that
"We would see [the cockroaches] com- inhabit the alley behind the strip mall
ing right over the fire wall," she said.
that houses the Greenfield Road Ze-
Despite traps overflowing with roach man's.
carcasses and other signs of the butch-
"A foreign element can come in that
er shop's insect invasion, the Council of was in packaging," she said. "We don't
Orthodox Rabbis never pulled its su- have any control over that, but we try
pervision; the mashgiach never said a to watch out for it."
word.
She said the store also contracts with
"They never say anything," Mrs. Co- a pest-control company to provide week-
hen said.
She said her husband was fas-
tidious about keeping the store
clean, thoroughly mopping the
floors, and wiping down shelves
once a week.
State inspectors also have been
kept busy at Zeman's New York
Bakery on Greenfield Road in Oak
Park, which is owned by Morris
Weiss, citing near-constant sani-
tation problems.
In its most recent report in No-
vember 1996, inspectors found food
containers, shelves, floors and walls
caked with food residue and food
spillage. This was two months af-
ter a pile of dead cockroaches was
found on a glue-board trap near the
ice machine.
The problem has been noted in
inspection reports dating back to
at least June 1990, when live roach-
tsea
es were discovered on the walls and
shelves, and rodent droppings were A worker prepares confections at Zeman's.
seen near canned ingredients. Lat- His half eaten meal sits to the side.
er inspections reflected even more
problems. In February 1993, in-
spectors seized 150 pounds of oat bran ly fumigation. Despite the precaution-
and flour because of rodent infestation ary measures, she said, many food
and a dead mouse, and more than 200 businesses wrestle with the same issues.
rodent droppings were found in the
"It is not like we are ignoring a prob-
store.
lem," she said. "Any time you have a food
In April 1995, a customer complained business, you are going to have prob-
to the state that he saw roaches scaling lems that are inherent. You have to take
the wall behind the counter. When he care of them. We try to clear it up as
pointed them out to a female employee, soon as possible."
the woman "nonchalantly" banged the
In the past, a neighboring kosher
wall to knock the roaches free and con- shopkeeper has blamed his own roach
tinued with the sale, the customer said. problem on the bakery.
The Southfield Zeman's, owned by
Marty Lerner, the former owner of
Mr. Weiss and Morry Mertz, also has Lakewood Specialty Food Center, point-
had numerous violations on numerous ed the finger at neighboring Zeman's
occasions, most recently in December when confronted by health inspectors
1996 when the store was cited for not about roaches in April 1993. While
cleaning dough mixers or cleaning up roaches were found at Lakewood up
mouse droppings. That report came two through 1996, the state seemed to take
weeks after another inspection, when a greater exception to labeling inadequa-
dead mouse was found by the mixer, and cies at the food market.
over 100 rodent droppings were found
Lakewood has been threatened with
in the storage area.
seizure of goods and other penalties for
Dena Sanders, the manager of the offering "numerous items" beyond ex-
Greenfield Road Zeman's and daughter piration dates. Finally, in March 1995,

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After The Inspection

Food stores rarely close, despite conditions.

JILL DAVIDSON SKLAR STAFF WRITER

Still, health matters are a "very im-
portant thing," said Rabbi Goldberg.
So, who does get shut down?
From the state and local perspective,
only those shopkeepers who repeatedly
refuse or neglect to correct health or safe-
ty problems will have their licenses sus-
pended or revoked by the state or local
authorities.
Generally speaking, owners of busi-
nesses cited are first given a hearing in
which they can present their side. If they
lose, they are given a second, more for-
mal hearing. If they lose again, they can
attempt to recoup their license before a
circuit court judge.
In rare cases, when store conditions
are so unsafe as to pose a "clear and pre-
sent danger" to consumer health — such
as rampant infestation of vermin,`a pow-
er outage or a backup of sewer water —
an inspector may close a store before a
hearing is held. Only when the danger is
removed will the state consider allowing
the store to reopen.
'We are very serious about food safe-
ty in Oakland County. We think we have
a very good program to protect the pub-
lic from being poisoned when they go out
to eat," said Bill Carlson, a supervisor at
the Oakland County Department of
Health.
Mr. Mercer said the state is less like-
ly to revoke a license if a store is unique
or particularly important to a neighbor-
hood.
"There probably are some business op-
erations on the fringes that are allowed
to stay open because they're the only
places available in that community," Mr.
Mercer conceded.
But what if the store continues to sell
had a problem, nobody would stay open,"
said Pat Mercer, a food inspection su- food without a license?
The health authorities, through a lo-
pervisor with the state agriculture de-
partment, which monitors thousands of cal prosecutor, can pursue a misde-
markets, bakeries, butcher shops and meanor conviction in district court. A
other businesses that sell food products. judge can order the store closed until it
Restaurants and food service business- corrects its problems and may also pun-
es are inspected separately by county ish the owner with fines and jail terms.
Even then, the government cannot
health officials. -
"In most cases, we're not going to take keep a store closed forever, no matter how
the license away if we can avoid it," Mr. bad its conditions. Once a store owner
Mercer said. "Our main business is not brings facilities up to snuff, the license
to put people out of business. Our busi- must be reinstated and the store re-
ness is to create a safe environment for opened.
'We know deep in our heart that, six
food consumers."
Retail kosher stores face essentially months later, [many insanitary stores]
the same standards but with a twist. In will probably degenerate back to that lev-
addition to the rules set by the state and el," Mr. Mercer said. "But we have to wait
local health authorities, the Council of for that to happen and react only to the
Orthodox Rabbis of Greater Detroit (Vaad facts we see and the facts at hand."
From the Vaad's perspective, there is
Harabonim) provides an additional lay-
er of supervision to assure food is pre- little legal recourse or enforcement over
which it has control. In the history of the
pared according to Jewish law.
But the Vaad, outside of enforcing Jew- council, two butcher shops had supervi-
ish law, is ostensibly in the kashrut busi- sion summarily removed when the own-
ness to supply kosher keepers with an ers were suspected of selling treife meat.
"Our basic point of control is to super-
array of retail outlets in which to buy
kosher food, said Rabbi Elimelech Gold- vise or not to supervise," Rabbi Goldberg
said. CI
berg, a spokesperson.
—David Zeman
"We want these businesses to be suc-
contributed to this story.
cessful," he said.

S tate food inspectors rarely mince
words when they spo t a filthy busi-
ness. Their inspection reports are
full of blunt critiques of crusty
kitchen utensils, or voluminous directives
on how to raise a sink to state standards.
But closing a business is another mat-
ter.
In a given year, only one or two food
stores are closed in Michigan for insani-
tary conditions. The reason, said a top
state agriculture official, has more to do
with pragmatism than with the cleaning
prowess of store owners.
"If we shut down everyone who ever

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