The Lidl on Rue Gray in the Brussels municipality of Ixelles was shut down by health authorities after evidence of vermin was found in the building, as first reported by Bruzz and confirmed to The Brussels Times on Friday.
The shop has been closed since 10 April. "This decision was taken following the repeated detection of traces of vermin, which poses an acute risk to consumer health," the spokesperson for the Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain (FASFC), Hélène Bonte, told The Brussels Times.
According to Bonte, the supermarket can reopen after applying for a new licence to operate within the food chain. "In any case, we will conduct an on-site inspection to assess whether the situation has improved and whether the risk has been mitigated before issuing any (conditional) authorisation," she added.
Lidl intends to apply for a new authorisation, according to Bruzz. "Renovations were already planned for the store in Ixelles," said Head of Corporate Communications at Lidl, Isabelle Colbrandt. "The FASFC's findings have now accelerated those plans."
