Rat tears into the sliced cheese at Alsip Food 4 Less supermarket

ALSIP, Illinois -- A rodent, most likely a rat or a mouse, was caught on camera nibbling their way through a package of sliced cheese in the deli section of a Food 4 Less in Alsip.

During a late-night grocery run, Christopher Allison noticed the small animal and started recording. The video shows the critter trying to eat through the plastic wrapping and get to the cheese.

Allison had a relatively lighthearted reaction to the incident, and saying on the video, "That rat knows what it's getting into... he's ignoring me, you know he's hungry."

However, Alsip Mayor John Ryan was not quite so calm. A post on the Village of Alsip Facebook page stated that Ryan and other officials involved made sure that "the original products were destroyed, the display was sanitized, pest control was dispatched and the pest control logbook was up to date and reflected 2 visits this week to address the vermin issue" in the supermarket.

A Kroger representative for the Food 4 Less Division released this statement regarding the issue:

The pest issue was an isolated event. Immediate action was taken to remove the rodent from the location and all product was removed and destroyed followed by a thorough cleaning/disinfection of the contaminated area.

Pest control logs are up to date and show no activity for the past few years. Both the health inspector and the Mayor of Alsip were pleased with their findings upon inspection of our Alsip location.