By Sara Beth Williams–
Over Memorial Day Weekend, a local Citrus Heights resident said she found a cockroach cooked into her piece of pizza while eating at the Sam’s Club food court on Greenback Lane, prompting a complaint to management as well as to county health officials.
On Saturday, May 27, after eating at the Sam’s Club food court cafe, Carlie Crowell complained to management staff that she bit into a cockroach that had been cooked into her piece of pizza. She also posted an account of the incident on Facebook, advising people avoid the food court “unless you’re looking to add some extra protein in your diet.”
In an interview with The Sentinel, Crowell reported that she spoke with Sam’s Club management to show them what she’d encountered while eating and received a gift card as compensation.
Later, she contacted Sam’s Club’s corporate office but said she was told no incident report had been filed and that she would need to return to file an incident at the location to obtain an incident report number. Crowell also contacted Sacramento County to file a food safety complaint.
Multiple calls to the Sam’s Club café by Sentinel staff have gone unanswered, and it is unclear whether any other action has been taken either by Sam’s Club management or café staff following Crowell’s allegation.
In a phone call with Sam’s Club management on Wednesday, management staff did not confirm or deny the incident, and referred The Sentinel to the company’s Media Relations team. No member of the Media Relations team was available for comment before press time on Friday.
A call by Sentinel staff to the Environmental Management Department of Sacramento County, which handles public health inspections and enforcement, confirmed that a food safety complaint had been filed with the county. Public Relations Officer Kenneth Casparis confirmed on Thursday that a complaint matching the description had been made against Sam’s Club in Citrus Heights and that the Environmental Management Division plans to investigate the allegation.
Casparis indicated that allegations are typically investigated within 72 hours of receipt. However, because the complaint was made over a holiday weekend, Environmental Management staff did not receive the incident complaint until Tuesday, May 30. Casparis did confirm that a representative of the division will visit in-person to investigate, and that a report should be available next week.
