Local

CORRECTION: Candler Road Piggly Wiggly report

DECATUR, Ga. — We have a correction about a recent story on Channel 2 Action News and WSBTV.com. The story was following up on a customer's concern about conditions at the Piggly Wiggly on Candler Road in Decatur.  

Among other things, our story reported that we found unrefrigerated meat for sale at room temperature.  But state inspectors determined the meat was "cured" and did not require refrigeration.  In our story and in later reports we did not make this clear and mistakenly referred to the meat as "raw."

We apologize for the error and any problems it caused. 

Original Story - April 26, 2013:

Inspectors have slapped DeKalb County grocery store with four health violations after a viewer tipped off Channel 2 Action News to deplorable conditions that food was being stored in, inside the store.

The safety violations at the Piggly Wiggly grocery store on Candler Road are now in a county inspection report.

Channel 2 sent in undercover cameras that found unrefrigerated meat stacked up for sale, some kind of brownish-red liquid running down the walls behind the lunch meat and moldy vegetables.

Just hours Channel 2's Aaron Diamant tipped off state inspectors about the conditions our hidden cameras caught inside this supermarket, they showed up, then sent Diamant the report, confirming a lot of what a Channel 2 Action News viewer found.

"It's was absolutely disgusting. The first thing that came to my mind was that people are consuming this," viewer Monica O'Neal told Diamant.

O'Neal got really worried after seeing the piles of unrefrigerated meat, moldy vegetables and a mystery liquid behind lunch meat at the Piggly Wiggly.

"God only knows how long that that has been sitting out there," O'Neal said.

Friday, Diamant still saw meat sitting out next to boxes that say 'keep refrigerated,' more moldy vegetables and stuff dripping down the deli walls.

When Diamant confronted the store manager, he got defensive fast.

"You want to pick on me?" He asked Diamant, not identifying himself.

"You think I'm picking on you?" Diamant replied.

"I'm on TV right?" the store manager asked.

He blamed the problems on his staff, the building's age and geography.

"Is the schools in Buckhead better than the schools in DeKalb County? Is the houses better? Is the streets better?" the manager said to Diamant.

The manager then laughed.

"What does that have to do with keeping the store clean?" Diamant asked. "What does that have anything to do with the schools?"

"I don't know." The manager said.

"You don't know?" Diamant asked.

"You brought it up," the store manager answered.

There was another odd exchange after the Georgia Department of Agriculture sent over inspectors once Diamant clued it in on the situation.

""The inspectors came over there told me what was wrong, what I needed to do," the manager told Diamant.

"What did they tell you?" Diamant asked.

"And I'm trying to correct it," the manager told Diamant.

"What did they tell you?" Diamant asked.

"I don't know I just got here," the store manager said.

The report Diamant got late Friday found four violations.

"Products stored in contact with the floor," and, "excessive buildup in the coolers," were among the violations the store was cited for.

The meat was left sitting out by the time inspectors showed up was OK, the moldy vegetables were already gone.

Two of the violations were corrected on-site. Inspectors will be back at the store next week to make sure the rest of the work got done.