When Brittany Ellis took a trip to her local Whole Foods in Manhattan on May 23rd, she was likely looking to buy some organic produce or restock her fridge for the week. She was not planning on finding a disgusting sight in the meat display that would lead her to go viral on TikTok for all the wrong reasons.
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Whole Foods
Whole Foods Market offers specialty foods like fancy cheese boards, and is known for its organic produce and natural products. The store also provides the option of grocery delivery and takeout through Amazon, which has been especially helpful throughout the Coronavirus pandemic.
However, instead of stocking her pantry with health food items, Ellis found a live mouse chowing down on the meat display on her shopping trip to the Whole Foods in Manhattan west in New York City.
A Disgusting Incident
Ellis says that it all began when she heard a man and woman in line talking about the rodent in the meat display. Unsure what to make of the conversation, she decided to see the mouse for herself.
When she went to check it out and did, in fact, find a live mouse eating the meat in the display, she was appalled. "That was disgusting," Ellis says.
She then took a video of it and tried to get the butcher's attention to tell him of the mouse. When he saw the mouse, he was shocked and disgusted. The butcher then found the manager of the grocery store, who said he would take care of the situation.
Ellis' trending video has since gone viral on TikTok, gaining over 2.4 million views.
@definebritt @wholefoodsofficials you doing bad guys not what I wanted to see today!!!!
She then shared a YouTube video, giving more details about her experience.
It is unclear whether the NYC retailer removed all of the meat, but Ellis says that the mouse "definitely roamed around" the display as she waited for the manager to arrive.
"This was truly a traumatic viewing of a rodent eating away and possibly passing on more diseases during a global pandemic," Ellis said.
Columbus Circle Whole Foods
https://www.instagram.com/p/CN6YPsIMdGC/
The Whole Foods location in question is on the west side corner of Columbus Circle, which is the intersection of Broadway, Central Park South, and Central Park West. Near Manhattan's upper west side, this is about a 10-minute subway ride from Union Square and about 30 minutes from Brooklyn Bridge.
Ellis says that Whole Foods hasn't contacted her with a statement or apology for the incident, despite her video going viral.
