Consumer watchdog issues warning after rat feces found in Eindhoven care home kitchen
The Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) gave an official warning to the care institution Vitalis after rat feces were found in the kitchen of the Kronehoef care home in Eindhoven.
The residents of the building have been struggling with a rat infestation for a while, according to Omroep Brabant. NVWA inspectors arrived after multiple reports of possessions being chewed on by rats and the rodents’ feces and urine everywhere.
An 82-year-old woman was also bitten by a rat. She had previously found rat droppings all over her room, including inside the bed. “She didn’t want to call the nurses because she knew they are afraid of vermin,” the woman’s daughter told the newspaper. “The Vitalis staff no longer dared to go inside. I had to feed her, shower her, and dress her myself.”
Rat exterminators had been previously called in, and traps were set up, but little reportedly changed.
“We only supervise places where food is stored and prepared, so the kitchens,” a spokesperson for the NVWA said on Friday. “There were feces lying in a few hard-to-reach places.”
The building itself is owned by the housing corporation Wooninc. The organization said it is “doing everything together with Vitalis to resolve the nuisance as quickly as possible.”
Reports of rat-related problems have been rising all over the Netherlands, and drought might be the reason, according to the Knowledge and Advisory Center for Animal Pests.








