Whole Foods Store Reopens After 5-Month Closure to Handle Vermin, Sparking Debate Over California’s Rodenticide Ban

CUPERTINO, Calif.—A Whole Foods store in Silicon Valley reopened Sept. 29 after a closure of over 5 months due to a severe rodent infestation. The store was unable to get rid of the vermin using poison due to California’s recent ban on most rodenticide products, igniting controversy over the new law.

Customers visiting the store, which is on Stevens Creek Boulevard in Cupertino, notice trimmed trees around the building, Xcluder door sweeps at all entrances, sealed gaps in the restrooms, and other structural improvements to keep rats from entering the facility. The company said these measures were “proactive steps to prevent future concerns.”

The grocery chain Whole Foods Market told The Epoch Times that it was “working closely with local authorities to implement comprehensive improvements.” The company did not say what the cost would be.

California became the state with the strongest regulations in the country over rodenticide, or rat poison, early this year when Assembly Bill 2552 took effect. AB 2552 bans anticoagulant rodenticide.

“Unnecessary overregulation of these products has real consequences, as this recent example demonstrates,” Jon Gaeta, senior director of government affairs at Responsible Industry for a Sound Environment (RISE), told The Epoch Times in an email.

RISE is a national trade association representing manufacturers and distributors of specialty pesticides and fertilizers.

“Because of these restrictions, what should have been a straightforward solution—applying as appropriate, EPA-approved rodenticides—instead resulted in a five-month store closure,” Gaeta said.

Since 2020, California has passed a series of bills to restrict or ban rodenticide products to protect wildlife: AB 1788 in 2020, AB 1322 in 2023, and AB 2552 in 2024.

The Cupertino Whole Foods case began on March 25 when a minor violation inspector from the Santa Clara County Department of Environmental Health found a few rodent droppings in the space under the stairs to the office, according to the inspection report.

The store staff were required to clean and sanitize the affected areas and make sure no similar violations appeared in the next routine inspection.

However, the pest control firm associated with the Whole Foods store no longer uses rat poison due to the ban. Since mice often ignore traps, implementing mouse traps to neutralize a rodent infestation can be much harder.

The Whole Foods store called pest control services from April 20 through April 22 before the next inspection. However, the rodent infestation had become uncontrollable.

Inspectors observed “snap traps throughout the premises” during the April 22 inspection, yet they found rodent droppings in six areas.

“The increased activity throughout the facility indicates the infestation has expanded beyond the operations of the deli, juice bar and bakery into the premises of the facility,” the inspection report states.

The environmental health department decided the same day to shut down the whole facility due to the infestation.

Under current state law, the banned rodenticides can still be used in a few exceptional circumstances. A rodenticide use request can be made to state or local public health officers if there is a public health need and “other rodent control alternatives, including nonchemical alternatives, are inadequate to control the rodent infestation.”

The pest control firm associated with the Whole Foods store made a request on April 25 to use a rodenticide, citing public health urgency.

“After careful review, the request was denied as the circumstances failed to meet a public health urgent need,” Marilyn C. Underwood, director of the Santa Clara County Department of Environmental Health, told The Epoch Times in an email.

“Rodenticides will not correct the underlying conditions that allow rodents to enter a food facility and establish nests,” said Underwood.

The store’s remodeling plans were approved by the city of Cupertino in July. After implementing the project, the store passed inspection on Sept. 10 before its reopening.

Vermin-related closures in Santa Clara County are higher this year compared to past years, according to the county’s environmental health department.

From January through Oct. 1, the department closed 214 facilities for vermin, surpassing 152 in the entire year of 2024 and 102 in 2023. In the same period this year, it cited 366 violations compared to 357 in all of 2024, the department reported.

Gaeta said that California already have strong regulations over the use of rodenticides before the ban was enacted, and that proper pesticide use can effectively control serious infestations without compromising the environment or public health.

“In California, pesticides are already subject to rigorous regulatory review and oversight by both the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and California Department of Pesticide Regulation (CDPR),” said Gaeta.

“This dual layer of oversight and enforcement helps ensure safe and proper pesticide use across California and promotes consistency with federal regulation and scientific standards—making bills like AB 2552 unnecessary and potentially detrimental to public health.”

Congresswoman Laura Friedman, who sponsored the rodenticide restriction bills when she was a California state assemblywoman, didn’t respond immediately to a request for comment.