The Harlem Popeye’s restaurant has received a great deal of bad publicity in the past couple days.
It all started when a photo of a strange chicken nugget went viral. Rosemary Thomas took her daughter to eat on Sunday, September 19, 2016. The duo was enjoying a nice afternoon with her sister and niece.
As they sat down to eat, they noticed something wasn’t right with her daughter’s chicken. Upon further investigation, they discovered that a rat head was fried and served in with the chicken. The daughter immediately became ill, and the mother took the opportunity to snap a picture.
The video was shared on Facebook where it got much attention. How could the health department not notice this establishment had an issue with rats?
Well, the restaurant was just graded by the health department in April of this year. Consequently, they received the highest marks, a grade A.
However, reports from 2014 and 2015 show that the restaurant was not vermin proof.
The inspector notated that they had conditions that were conducive to attract pests.
An official spokesperson from Popeye’s, Renee Kopowski, contacted the Thomas family to talk about the incident. Rosemary was supposed to bring the “rat” in for analysis. Thomas attempted to contact media outlets, but no one responded.
Kopowski said that it is not uncommon to find organs in the chicken from time to time; however, a rat was something they could never have imagined.
The store is taking the issue seriously, though, while others think they smell a rat.
