Dive Brief:
- In April 2016, an employee at a Whole Foods Market in Ann Arbor, MI, saw a customer spray what is believed to be rodent poison near a food bar at the store, according to Food Safety Magazine. Kyle Bessemer, 30, was arrested and charged with contaminating produce and drinks, and was found competent to stand trial.
- Store employees acted fast, getting rid of affected items and alerting police quickly. Nobody got sick in the aftermath of incident.
- The suspect, who investigators say was recorded by store surveillance cameras, faces charges of similar contamination at another area supermarket.
Dive Insight:
The same access that grocery customers have to get items from an open prepared food bar also provides access for this sort of incident, where products can be contaminated. Most supermarkets have safeguards against occurrences like this. In addition to employees keeping watch, most have surveillance cameras to keep an eye out for foul play.
Still, this kind of event can make some shoppers wary of prepared food stations. The question is, for how long? And what kind of repercussions could this have on grocery sales?
Instead of hiring security employees to police the food bar, grocery stores could increase surveillance and shopper information to add managers to the floor near the prepared food department. These employees could both keep an eye on what's going on with the products and tell consumers about their nutritional information and how they were made. This not only decreases the chance of contamination impacting shoppers, but it also makes the prepared foods section more attractive to shoppers, who may otherwise be wary about purchasing food made at their local store.
Convenience remains the primary advantage that retailers offer with prepared foods and items from the food bar, which is why analysts have been touting the idea of retailers expanding these sections in recent years. Even with food safety risks, the grocery "experience" trend will likely push more stores to include prepared food stations.