A cockroach infestation is one reason a local supermarket was prevented from selling freshly baked cookies, cakes and breads.

The bakery section of the Vons grocery store at 2048 Avenida de Los Arboles in Thousand Oaks was closed by the Ventura County environmental health department on Monday due to a cockroach infestation and unsanitary conditions.

A routine inspection that day also found the delicatessen and the market areas of the store had unsanitary floors, walls and/or ceiling.

According to an environmental health report, there was no thermometer in the delicatessen refrigerator, and potentially hazardous food in the area wasn’t being stored at safe temperatures. Food is supposed to be at or above 135 degrees or below 41 degrees.

The inspector also noted the store’s delicatessen and seafood areas weren’t maintained to prevent vermin and the equipment and utensils weren’t clean.

The equipment and utensils in the meat area of the store were also found to be unclean.

According to Mike Byrne, supervising environmental health specialist, Vons was reinspected on Tuesday and allowed to reopen after the inspector found there was no longer evidence of a cockroach infestation. He said, “The insects had been eliminated.”

After the second inspection Vons spokesperson Carlos Illingworth said, “The problem was with the walls—the dishwasher’s pipe was not sealed. We take this type of situation seriously, and therefore had EcoLab come out to the store immediately to address the issue. The entire department was sprayed—including inside the walls—and the holes in the walls were sealed. The health department did not find any insects today.”

—Nancy Needham