Farm Boy has voluntarily closed its store at 740 Dupont Street near Christie Street to perform what it calls “preventative maintenance” just weeks after the location was given a conditional pass for pest control and sanitization issues during a DineSafe inspection.
It’s the second Farm Boy location to close this month after the company’s store at Yonge Street and Soudan Avenue was shuttered by the City for failing its DineSafe inspection.
In that instance, the location at 2149 Yonge Street was cited for four infractions, including two that are considered crucial: “food premise maintained in a manner permitting health hazard (rodents)” and “fail to protect food from contamination or adulteration.”
It was also cited for the significant infraction of “failing to protect against harbouring of pests.”
While Farm Boy wouldn’t say what specifically led to the voluntary closure at Dupont Street, it did reference the previous closure when explaining why it took the action.
“Based on learnings from our Yonge and Soudan location, we are taking proactive and preventative measures and have temporarily closed the Farm Boy Dupont and Christie location to ensure the health, safety, and well-being of our customers and team members.”
During its last inspection on Aug. 27, the Dupont location was cited for the following three infractions:
1 Significant Infraction(s)
• Fail to protect against harbouring of pests – Sec. 13(1)
Action: Ticket, Pending on September 16, 2025
2 Minor Infraction(s)
• FAIL TO ENSURE EQUIPMENT SURFACE SANITIZED AS NECESSARY – SEC. 22
Action: Notice to Comply
• Fail to protect against entry of pests – Sec. 13(1)
Toronto Public Health confirmed they have not conducted any additional inspections since Aug. 27 and the closure was not the result of any further inspection by them.
In a note posted on the front of its Dupont location, the company said it anticipates reopening “in a timely fashion.”
‘Mice are everywhere’
Two Farm Boy employees spoke with CityNews anonymously about what they called the abhorrent conditions that led to the closure at the Yonge and Soudan store.
The workers told CityNews that the store was known internally as the “mouse store,” after it became plagued by uncontrolled infestations.
They also claimed that handling hundreds of mice became part of their job.
“Here, this is part of your routine, you’re gonna pick up mouse droppings, you are going to remove dead mice,” one of the Farm Boy employees said.
“[The mice] are on the floor as soon as they hear the commotion stop, (when) there’re not many footsteps around, they’re out and about, they’re everywhere, they completely devour the grocery section throughout the night.”
With files from CityNews reporter Michelle Mackey