It’s a very regular occurrence that we hear about restaurants being closed down for hygiene reasons. Indeed, the Food Safety Authority release monthly reports detailing which businesses have been subjected to closure orders.

We don’t hear about supermarkets as often. New York World, however, has finished the surely unpleasant task of trawling through the records of their state’s Department of Agriculture and Markets to identify which local grocery stores and supermarkets have fallen foul of inspectors.

You can read the full results via the embedded map below. Needless to say, it makes for some stomach-churning reading. In the Upper West Side alone, some of the notable breaches found include an ice machine’s “buildup of slime and mold”, “eight bags of yellow corn meal flour on a retail shelf… found to be infested with live and dead beetles” and “1 freshly killed mouse carcass... present on mouse trap behind upstairs yogurt display case”.

We can hope Irish supermarkets operate to higher standards, but it’s a queasy look at what can routinely happen in a store full of food if care isn't taken.