UPDATE
A representative from Kentucky Fried Chicken contacted ABC2 after the airing of our Dirty Dining report. Their spokesman says food safety is their number one priority and that both "KFC and our franchisee take this report very seriously". We're told the franchisee voluntarily closed the restaurant and will be working to address the issues.
They're restaurant problems the Colonel would not be happy to see, but we found them at a Kentucky Fried Chicken in Glen Burnie. ABC2 News Investigator Joce sterman tells us why their original recipe isn't the only thing they're trying to keep secret.
Hungry diners looking to satisfy their fast food fix often head straight for the drive-through. But at this Kentucky Fried Chicken on Baltimore-Annapolis Boulevard, the workers aren't the only one manning the window. Instead, the inspection reports for this Glen Burnie restaurant show roaches and mice also like this room with a view. We're going neighborhood by neighborhood, looking at places with the biggest number of violations and the consistent patterns we've seen in reports dating back to 2006. In the last two and a half years, this place has been written up six times for pests found hiding out near the drive through, with droppings and dead roaches found on the windowsill and under the soda dispenser that spits out your favorite soda.
But that's not the only place these critters love to crawl. The reports show inspectors have also spotted live roaches on the service counter and dead ones in the fridge. During one visit in July of 2007, inspectors told management the "roach infestation was evident" and later called it a "recurring problem". Despite calls to step up pest treatment, mice and roaches were written up again three times in 2008.
We wanted to know how they're getting their critter problem under control, but the shift manager didn't want to answer our questions. The general manager told us he couldn't. We left our contact information and were told someone from the franchise would contact us, but they never did. And that left us wondering about their plans to stop whatever is wandering in this kitchen.
