King Rat

In James Clavell's novel "King Rat," prisoners of war find delight and profit in serving homegrown rats to their unsuspecting Japanese captors. At Julius Meinl in the CR, shopkeepers have been serving spoiled meat, demolded cheese and other expired food to unsuspecting customers. Well, actually, many people have known for years that Meinl's perishable items can't be trusted. It's odd that the food administration was the last to learn this. The inspectors said the timing of their discovery had nothing to do with the takeover of Meinl's stores by Ahold, which has its own rodent problem. This is a subject for further research, but the most immediate rats in this tale are the managers, supervisors and clerks at Julius Meinl who have been deceiving customers and creating a health risk. If there's any justice, they'll never work again in food retailing in the CR.