A local grocery store and the local health department are sparring off on social media over meat, a face mask, and a cooler.
It all went down Friday in Jeffersonville in Fayette County after a local health inspector paid a visit to Winners’ Market, formerly Detty’s Market.
The local grocer has been a staple in the small town of less than 1,200. Until recently, when a dollar store was built in the village, the market was the only place to buy groceries for ten miles.
On Friday, the local health department ordered the grocer to throw away meat after an inspector reportedly told the manager that the cooler where it was being housed what not holding the proper temperature. Unhappy with the order, the store’s owner, Brad Winner, complied, but took to social media afterwards and wrote a lengthy essay, which has gone viral locally.
“I told our manager to pull the product off the sales floor and not to sell it, but do not throw it away. I stated, ‘I will check it when I come that way and decide what to do with it.’ The manager called me back and informed me that the health department demanded it be thrown out or they would revoke licenses and shut me down.”
Winner said the meat consisted of bologna, hotdogs, pepperoni, and more.
“We were forced to throw out approximately $2,500 worth of product….by wasting $2,500 worth of food, we were able to stay open.”
Winner said that the inspector was not wearing a mask and was not practicing social distancing.
The local deputy health commissioner said, however, that her employee was disciplined and retrained. She did not address the issue with the meat.
“It has come to my attention that during the course of performing duties on behalf of Fayette County Public Health, an employee did not follow Ohio Department of Health COVID-19 requirements by properly wearing a mask and adhering to the social distancing order,” said deputy commissioner Leigh Cannon. “As the Deputy Health Commissioner, I take my responsibility to this community seriously and hold myself and my employees to a high standard. The employee in question was retrained….”
Cannon added that threats to her staff are unacceptable and would be reported to the proper authorities. Fayette County Sheriff Vernon P. Stanforth told the Guardian that his office has not received any reports of threats to health department employees.