Health department investigating roach report at Kennewick mall food court

Update: Mall restaurant closes after roaches are discovered. More checks planned at Kennewick food court

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The Benton Franklin Health District is investigating after a photo of a cockroach at the Columbia Center mall in Kennewick was posted on social media.

The post from early Sunday morning had been shared more than 1,400 times by noon Monday.

A young mother said she was at the mall’s food court to buy a slice of pie for her child when she saw the cockroach at a display case and snapped photos.

Columbia Center mall is working with its tenant, who has contacted their pest control service, said mall manager Barbara Johnson on Monday.

The health district typically does inspections of food service establishments such as those at the mall twice a year, said Lars Richins, the district’s food safety program supervisor.

Richins was not aware of any pest problems, one of the things inspectors check for, in inspections in recent years at the mall, he said.

But there are cockroaches in the Tri-Cities, he said.

“I don’t think we will ever get rid of them entirely,” he said.

The district had just seen the photo of the cockroach at mid morning Monday and had no specific information yet.

However, he said typically if there is evidence of cockroaches at a food establishment, the inspector would next look for signs of a breeding population, which would increase concerns. Finding both adult and juvenile cockroaches could indicate a breeding population.

When spraying is done for pest control, cockroaches will not die immediately, he said.

An inspector who suspects a cockroach problem would discuss what actions have been taken by the establishment and could make some additional recommendations, Richins said.

The inspector would check to make sure that food is covered to protect it from contamination, that any contaminated food is discarded and that any surfaces that food might come in contact with be thoroughly sanitized.

Cockroaches are usually active during the night, so if inspectors see live cockroaches during the day it could be an indication of a major infestation.

The health district can take action up to closing a restaurant temporarily.

The health district relies on the public to report issues at restaurants between its regular inspections. Issues can be reported at bit.ly/reportBF under “Food Safety.”

This story was originally published November 18, 2019 at 12:50 PM.