SEATTLE -- The state Health Department says there are hundreds of thousands of people each year in Washington that fall ill from foodborne illness.

The cause can range from poor hand washing to the wrong room temperature and even rodent droppings.

So when customers at Seattle's Rainer Avenue Safeway complained about mouse droppings on the food shelves, they assumed the problem would get fixed.

Mary Murray of Seattle describes what she saw on the shelves at the Rainier Valley Safeway store.

"It's really gross. The mouse droppings weren't in just one place. They extend down three-quarters of the aisle through the noodle (section) and into the rice section," said Murray.

She reported the problem to the store in early September, thinking that Safeway would take care of it.

KIRO 7 Consumer Investigators took a hidden camera into that Safeway almost three weeks later and found mouse droppings scattered across the Asian food section right alongside food that customers buy off the shelf.

In October, KIRO's Consumer Investigators took pest expert Michael Meyers with Paratex into Safeway. He not only pointed out more droppings but discovered food packages that were gnawed open. There were even bait traps outside the store that appeared to be last inspected in October of 2007.

"Every time you see rodent droppings, that is half the equation. They basically peed all over the packaging," said Meyers. "Is this considered acceptable? No. Those shelves need to be stripped, sterilized and cleaned and the packaging checked for scratches and holes. And restock the shelf."

In September, King County health inspectors were alerted of the problem. Documents show that they instructed Safeway to remove food items where the package was opened. They recommended the droppings be cleaned up, the food removed and the shelves cleaned.

We showed our footage to King County's Food and Facilities manager Mark Rowe. And even though rodent droppings in a grocery store are considered a health violation, King County did not issue Safeway a citation.

KIRO 7 Consumer Investigator David Quinlan: "If you go out there and make these recommendations but the store doesn't follow through - what's the point of you going out there in the first place?"

Mark Rowe: "The point of us going out there is to prevent foodborne illness and the spread of potential foodborne illness."

Quinlan: "Would you feel comfortable buying food off a shelf like that?"

Rowe: "No, I wouldn't."

Rowe says rodent droppings are considered a low-risk violation and that the county is working with the store to correct the problem. He says it's not uncommon to see mice in or around grocery stores.

"What you're showing me doesn't surprise me -- that 20 days after our visit that you still saw droppings there," said Rowe.

Washington State Food Safety manager David Gifford says the risks with rodent droppings can be severe, especially if the droppings contain Salmonella.

"I think it would be uncommon. It will cause you a gastro-intestinal infection, which means nausea, vomiting and diarrhea that can last a few days," said Gifford.

And although the risks may be low, Gifford says why chance it?

"We don't want to play Russian roulette with that," said Gifford.

As for Mary Murray, she says she's frustrated.

"It has not been taken care of. It's been well over six weeks now and frankly, I don't shop there anymore," said Murray.

She now drivers farther for her grocery shopping but hopes that one day she can return to her neighborhood grocery store.

In a statement to KIRO 7, Safeway says its focus has always been to provide customers with an excellent shopping experience and that food safety is their number one priority. The store says it's working with a professional pest control contractor to abate the situation. Routine service is scheduled to provide the best protection at all times.

But when KIRO visited the store on Thursday, we still found mouse droppings on the shelves and even found food packages that were chewed apart and open.