DENVER – Are “rat droppings” now an approved condiment under Michelle Obama’s school lunch guidelines?

Denver’s East High School cafeteria was shuttered last week after a “routine kitchen inspection” by the Public Health Inspections Division of the Denver Department of Environmental Health.

MORE NEWS: Know These Before Moving From Cyprus To The UK

The Denver Post reports it is an “extensive” rat and mouse infestation, with droppings being found in the kitchen, in food and on food equipment.

“The kitchen manager stated that they observe live mice and have to sweep up droppings on a daily basis due to the infestation,” an inspection report reads.

“This is not something that happened overnight,” Danica Lee, food safety manager for the health department, tells ABC 7. “It appears from our work with the district that they did not have effective monitoring and response systems in place to deal with the issue.”

“The pest management and school staff have indicated that the current pest management system generally addresses work orders in response to specific sightings and does not implement an integrated plan for the entire school.  This is NOT an effective way of mitigating a pest infestation,”  Lee says.

The health department urged school officials to immediately notify parents because students “may unknowingly directly encounter rodent droppings and urine when they put their bags down, sit on the floor, and have other incidental contact with environmental surfaces contaminated by rodents.”

The district sent an email to parents, saying:

Droppings were observed in the kitchen, in food, and on equipment. Droppings were also observed in a number of other parts of the school, including on desks, on floors along walls, in the sports concessions area, gym, and in a number of storage areas (for prom, drama, etc.)

MORE NEWS: How to prepare for face-to-face classes

The cafeteria was closed last week but reopened on Monday.

Last week, it was revealed the San Francisco Unified School District had a huge rat infestation problem and its “fresh food” program was to blame.

KCBS reported:

One of the challenges related to feeding students is rodents. A San Francisco Examiner review of health inspection data shows many rodent issues began in 2013, the same time more fresh food was introduced into schools as part of the food lunch reform popularized by First Lady Michelle Obama. The results of lunch reform are now being criticized by opponents using the hashtag #ThankYouMichelleObama.

In Denver’s case, the health department is urging a “licensed pest control company” to handle the problem.