Zomick’s Bakery responds: We’re clean!

In the wake of reports that Zomick’s failed 10 out of 17 recent health inspections, the bakery has put out a statement that goes beyond what a company employee told JTA on Thursday: We’re clean!

Here’s an excerpt:

Some media reports that our production bakery was producing products that were unsafe are inaccurate and false! While we may have had a few isolated incidents years ago, the bakery adheres to the highest standards of safety and has passed all recent inspections. ln February 2013, Zomick’s passed the inspection by the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets. As part of our rigorous safety program, we set very high standards for the cleanliness of our bakery, as any visitor can plainly see.

The statement fails to note that the February inspection was the first the company had passed since July 2011.

Here’s what inspectors from the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets have found at Zomick’s over the last few years: cockroaches, beetles, mice and birds.

No word on whether any of those insects made it into the challahs or those “bonus omelets” that often come attached to the egg-heavy breads.

Uriel Heilman is JTA’s managing editor, responsible for coordinating JTA’s editorial team. He re-joined JTA in 2007 after a stint doing independent reporting in Israel and the Arab world. Before that, he served as New York bureau chief of the Jerusalem Post. An award-winning journalist, he has served as JTA’s news editor and worked as a reporter for a variety of publications in the United States and in Israel.