New Yorker Shares Horrifying Clip of Mouse Nibbling Meat in Whole Foods

A shopper was horrified after spotting a live mouse nibbling a slab of meat on sale in a Whole Foods Market in New York.

Resident DefineBritt shared a clip to her TikTok account on Monday, filming the chilled meat counter in the upmarket store. It was later confirmed all contaminated products were binned.

The short clip pans the steaks and sausages, then zooms in on a section of the display at the back, where a live mouse can clearly be seen.

The rodent is chewing away at an expensive cut, which the sign identifies as an Osso Bucco Veal shank, costing $22.99 per pound.

DefineBritt captioned the shocking footage: "But why was there a whole mouse in WholeFoods!! You guys doing bad. @wholefoodsofficials you doing bad guys not what I wanted to see today!!!!"

In response to comments, she later claimed it was the branch near Columbus Circle.

DefineBritt wrote: "I ain't never going to go back to that Whole Foods on 59th street Columbus Circle in New York City. I left immediately and didn't purchase a thing."

A Whole Foods Market spokesperson confirmed to Newsweek it performed a deep clean after being made aware of the vermin, and brought in a third-party for a "thorough inspection."

DefineBritt video has since been watched nearly 1.5 million times, as multiple people compared the mouse to the main character in the animated film Ratatouille, Remy, a rat who's also a chef.

Twopr wrote: "He's trying to figure out what meat to cook with. Ratatouille."

Aly T added: "That's the chef. Leave him alone."

Angie_Rawr replied: "That's just Remy picking out his meat cuts for his dishes."

DreDrexler added: "He's obviously looking for the ingredients to his recipe? Leave him alone."

Miirnitta Romerito commented: "Extra lb or protein with the purchase of 2 lbs."

TikToker __510conteras_ joked: "A free range, organic, beef fed rat? Couldn't get any better than that! & it'll be freshly dispatched too?! That's just unbeatable."

Rsxgd reckoned: "They give u a pet for free when u buy meat."

While someone else quipped: "$22 per pound of mouse is way too expensive, I buy mice $5 a pound usually."

Although Nisha admitted: "This is one of those things I would rather not know. I'm aware of it but I don't need confirmation."

Candice Martinez496 simply said: "Health department now."

A spokesperson for Whole Foods Market told Newsweek: "We take this situation very seriously. We immediately removed and disposed of all products in the case, performed a deep cleaning, and brought in a third party service for a thorough inspection.

"The store is diligently following our detailed food safety protocol in response, working closely with our food safety team on every step."

Newsweek has reached out to DefineBritt for comment.