Market ordered to stop selling live frogs, turtles

PROVIDENCE — The state Department of Health on Tuesday ordered the owners of a new Asian supermarket on Cadillac Drive to cease the sale of live turtles and frogs.

Health inspectors found 45 frogs and seven turtles for sale at the Good Fortune supermarket after they responded to a complaint Tuesday, said Joseph Wendelken, spokesman for the Department of Health.

“It’s against Rhode Island food code for there to be live animals in a food establishment,” he said.

The department ordered the owners to stop selling the animals and put up signs at the store to notify the public that the critters were not for sale, Wendelken said.

The store was allowed to stay open and continue to sell live seafood, which is permitted under the state health code, he said.

On Wednesday afternoon, people pushed carts past bubbling glass tanks packed with fish, eels, lobsters and other sea creatures. One customer plucked live crabs out of an open tank with tongs and placed them in a paper bag to be weighed.

The turtles and frogs had been taken away earlier in the day by the state Department of Environmental Management, said store manager John Lin.

The state health code allows certain live animals to be present at food establishments, including crustaceans, lobsters and shellfish, Wendelken said. But amphibians pose a particular concern because they can carry salmonella. 

Lin said he did not know the sale of live turtles and frogs in food establishments was prohibited in Rhode Island. The animals are sold for human consumption at Good Fortune stores in New York, he said. The chain has 15 locations nationwide.

But the critters are not a large part of Good Fortune’s business, and Lin said the Rhode Island store will simply stop selling them.

“We will comply with everything they need us to do,” Lin said, referring to the Department of Health.

The 40,000 square-foot store, which opened in Providence 10 days ago, has been doing good business so far, Lin said.

“A lot of customers were anticipating for it to open,” he said.

Providence customers used to travel to the Good Fortune in Boston to purchase specialty Japanese snacks, live seafood and other Asian food items that are difficult to find elsewhere, Lin said.

When the supermarket opened, health officials conducted an initial inspection and found no violations, Wendelken said.

“There was no indication at that point that frogs and turtles were going to be sold,” he said.

The animals were contained, and inspectors did not find evidence that other food in the store was contaminated, he said.

“They were in bins and were packed in pretty tightly,” he said.

The Department of Health will look into what specific violations apply to the establishment and once citations are issued, inspectors will conduct regular, unannounced visits to ensure that there are no repeat violations, he said.

The DEM has temporarily relocated the turtles and frogs to a pet shop that specializes in reptiles, agency spokesman Michael Healey wrote in an email.

"We want people to know that the animals are safe now and our ultimate goal is to place them where they can be safely and legally kept," he wrote.

Lin said he was not concerned that the news would negatively affect his business. In about three weeks, the company will host an event to mark the grand opening of the supermarket and an adjacent restaurant.

— mlist@providencejournal.com

(401) 277-7121

On Twitter: @madeleine_list

LISTEN: Interviews and audio from the Providence Journal