Dirty Dining: No Pest Control Service?

Roach infestations will get a local restaurant shut down by the health department and so will not having electricity.  Both things happened to one local restaurant in the past year.  We all know everyone’s dealing with tough times in the tough economy right now, but still experts say it’s no time to skimp on pest control, especially when you're dealing with food.

This week, we’re talking about Carolyn's Caribbean, which is the latest restaurant and grocery store to get shut down for a "roach infestation."  This place is on Military Trail in Lake Worth.  The report lists roaches inside the kitchen: "on the wall behind... sink,"  "in the crevices of the piece of wood used as a counter top" and "4 babies inside a book… next to stove."  The restaurant opened back up again one day later, but has the problem really been solved?  We went there to find out. 

The woman behind the counter says the restaurant took care of everything and had pest control paperwork to prove it, but they only showed us pest control paperwork from the day of the closure.  It says clear as day on the paperwork that the pest control service was only a one day service.  We know from experts that it takes a lot more than one day to clean up an infestation and prevent problems.

Well, we never got a straight answer from the restaurant, but we did speak to the pest control company.  They told us the restaurant never asked for a contract and they were never called to do any further service.

This same restaurant was also shut down for a day last January for not having electricity.  A family member told us the inspector happened to come on the same day the electricity was shut off for not paying the bill in full.   

Tara Cardoso, CBS 12 I-Team.