Officials: No health risks from dead rodent on Subway sandwich

LINCOLN CITY, Ore., Oct. 14 (UPI) -- Health officials in Oregon said a dead rodent found on a Subway sandwich likely came from the eatery's spinach supplier.

Matt Jones, who shared a picture of the sandwich and its unwanted passenger on Facebook, said the apparent mouse was spotted on his friend Jay's Italian sub during an Oct. 6 visit to the Subway in Lincoln City.

Jones said his sandwich, which also included spinach, was made before the mouse was scooped onto Jay's sandwich along with the last bit of spinach from the bin.

"I got my drink, turned around and they were in shock like something happened," Jones told KGW-TV. "There was a mouse in there. It was gross."

"It's the funniest thing I've ever seen, but it's also the most disgusting thing I've ever seen," Jones said. "I laughed because I was like, there is no way this just happened."

Cheryl Connell, director of Lincoln County Health and Human Services, said state health inspectors determined the expired rodent probably came from the spinach supplier.

"The investigation determined that the rodent problem did not come from inside the facility. It was probably in a bag of the bagged spinach product, not from the facility itself," Connell said. "Everything was sanitized and cleaned properly afterwards."

She said inspectors found it unlikely that anyone would get sick from eating the store's spinach.

"They [health inspectors] consulted with physicians and we followed their advice that, although it is not very appetizing, the risk of someone becoming sick due to eating lettuce with those particular circumstances were very low," Connell said.

Subway issued a statement to KGW-TV.

"As soon as the customer alerted the owner about what happened, they were immediately given a full refund and an investigation was launched. To be cautious, all of the products in the sandwich unit were disposed of and a thorough cleaning took place, in which the Health Department gave the restaurant a clean bill of health. There were no other complaints made."