This episode is sponsored by DeVere Chemical
Did you know sanitizing without cleaning is one of the most common food safety mistakes? 🤦‍♀️
DeVere Chemical is here to help you avoid rookie moves.
Their cleaning and sanitizing solutions are built for real food safety, not just looking clean, but being clean.
âś… Remove visible soils
âś… Use the right product
âś… Get full contact time
✅ Don’t miss those hard-to-reach zones
✅ And DOCUMENT EVERYTHING (If it’s not written down… it didn’t happen!)
We’ve met the DeVere team at events, and trust us, they know their stuff AND they’re actually fun to hang out with (which is saying a lot for a chemical company).
If you’re in food service or manufacturing, check out deverechemical.com.
Because clean should actually mean clean.
Remember: Don’t eat poop! 💩
In this episode of Don’t Eat Poop!, our hosts Matt and Francine dive into the dark, crunchy underbelly of food safety: cockroach infestations.
They kick things off with a recent incident at Erewhon’s luxury tonic bar in Santa Monica, temporarily shut down after cockroaches were discovered in a cabinet. But things quickly escalate when Francine shares one of the worst infestation cases of her career.
The hosts dig into the gaps in pest control protocols, how poor vendor oversight can keep infestations alive, and the often-overlooked realities of food safety enforcement.
In this episode:
💩 [04:07] The cockroach violation at Erewhon’s luxury tonic bar in Santa Monica
💩 [07:59] Francine’s craziest cockroach story
đź’© [09:03] What happens when you spray a bad cockroach infestation
đź’© [13:17] What it takes for the health department to reopen a restaurant
đź’© [16:34] The psychological effect of inspecting a bad cockroach infestation
đź’© [18:44] Taking food safety seriously
đź’© [20:35] A fill factor
💩 [21:59] What they found at Erewhon’s luxury tonic bar in Santa Monica
💩 [23:05] Where there’s one cockroach, there are thousands
đź’© [24:49] Consumer reaction to the Erewhon cockroach violation
đź’© [27:20] The need for weekly pest control
💩 [28:44] The expectations of Erewhon’s luxury tonic bar customers
Disclaimer: Episode title and content do not constitute legal or health advice.
Resources from this episode
Check out the Food Safety News article our hosts are talking about, Cockroach violation shuts down Erewhon’s luxury tonic bar in Santa Monica.
Noteworthy quotes from this episode
“If you're paying 20 bucks for a smoothie or a tonic, you probably don't want cockroaches as the added ingredient.” – Matt Regusci
“[Cockroaches] were inside the milkshake machine. They were everywhere. [...] This does not happen overnight. It took a while for it to get this bad.” – Francine L Shaw
We hope you enjoy this episode!
Remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast on your favorite podcast platform. Together, we can raise awareness and make a positive impact in the world of food safety!
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đź“• Check out Francine's book Who Watches the Kitchen? on Amazon!Â
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