Mastodon
A photo of the storefront for Wendel's Books in Fort Langley

Wendel's Books in Fort Langley | Image credit Wikimedia Commons

Health Inspectors Keep Finding the Same Issue at Wendel's

By Rainer Fehrenbacher
5 min read

Wendel's Bookstore & Cafe has been a Fort Langley fixture since 1997. The independent bookshop and café on Glover Road employs more than thirty people. It runs a sister gluten-free bakery nearby. Its tables fill on Sunday mornings, and its Instagram fills with sketches and food photos from devoted regulars.

It is also a business whose past three routine inspections from Fraser Health have all required follow-up. Each follow-up returned the rating to Low (aka a fully passing mark).

But the same critical food safety violation has appeared in every routine inspection across more than a year. The public record raises questions about kitchen equipment, internal systems, and the structures that support staff doing the daily work of food safety.

The records are publicly available through Fraser Health's online inspection portal at healthspace.ca/fha/food.

A moderate March 2025, with quick correction

The March 11, 2025 routine inspection produced a Moderate hazard rating with a Total Score of 16. The inspector spent 75 minutes on site.

A front display cooler was running at 12°C. Temperature logs showed the unit had been operating between 8 and 17°C in the prior days. Tiramisu cups, mousse cups, cakes, and nanaimo bars measured internal temperatures of 10 to 14°C. All of those products were discarded during the inspection. The handsink beside the prep cooler had no hot water. The inside of the ice machine showed pink and black mildew.

The follow-up six days later, on March 17, returned a Low rating with a Total Score of 3. The handsink had hot and cold running water. The ice machine had been cleaned. The display cooler was being replaced rather than repaired. Management was awaiting a quote.

An October 2025 crisis, and a substantial response

The October 9, 2025 routine inspection produced a High hazard rating with a Total Score of 30. The inspector spent two hours on site.

A pan prep cooler measured 13 to 14°C. The unit had frosted over and was no longer temping properly. An adjacent prep cooler measured 6 to 8°C. Both the Food Safety Plan and the Sanitation Plan were recorded as not in use at the time of inspection.

Even worse, the report was filled with evidence of pest and cockroach infestations.

Mouse activity was documented throughout the back of the premises. Droppings and odours were evident in the staff cubby, possibly indicating nesting in the wall. A trolley of bagged bread had been accessed by mice and was discarded. Mouse droppings were noted on the floor throughout the back of the building. Cockroach activity was concentrated in the back bakery area and, in the inspector's words, "likely throughout facility."

Sticky boards the chef had placed three days earlier were already full of cockroaches.

The follow-up twelve days later, on October 21, told a different story. The hazard rating returned to Low with a Total Score of 0. The linen closet that had been a cockroach harbourage had been removed entirely. Water leaks at the dishpit had been repaired. A new prep cooler was on order. Pest control was scheduled to spray that evening. The inspector closed the report with an unusual line: "Thank staff from the health inspector for the hard work in clean up."

That note is worth sitting with. The floor staff carried weight in a substantial recovery effort, and a sympathetic inspector said so on the record.

An April 2026 that shows progress, yet a problem that persists

The April 22, 2026 routine inspection produced a Moderate hazard rating with a Total Score of 15. The walk-in cooler measured 8°C. Food products inside measured 7.4°C. After fifteen to twenty minutes of monitoring, the unit settled to 6.4°C. The pastry cooler in back measured 7.5 to 8°C, with logs showing it had run between 6 and 10°C in the prior days.

The inspector also documented what had changed since October. New wood baseboards had been installed throughout the back of the premises. Door slides had been added to prevent mouse entry. There were no obvious signs of cockroach activity and only very minor signs of mouse activity. The inspector wrote: "Keep it up."

The follow-up on April 30 returned a Low rating with a Total Score of 0. The manager had been emailing the inspector throughout the week with status updates. A service technician had visited, made adjustments to the walk-in cooler, returned to replace a part. The walk-in measured 4°C at the time of inspection. The bake cooler was still being worked on, with the technician returning that Friday with the proper gas. The operator committed to confirming the unit was working before end of day.

The recurring issue, and the structural question

The same critical violation, Code 205, "cold potentially hazardous food stored or displayed above 4°C," was cited in all three routine inspections. Different units each time. The same underlying failure to keep food cold enough.

The April 2026 follow-up shows the operator now treating the issue as an equipment problem requiring service technician intervention. That is the right response. It also raises the question of why it took three full inspection cycles, and one near-disaster, to get to a systematic approach.

A quieter observation in the April 22 report deserves attention. The inspector wrote that they had discussed with staff "the need to communicate to management for corrective actions whenever temperature limits are not met." Staff had been logging temperatures. The logs were within range. The actual unit measurements were not. The breakdown was in the chain between the line workers doing the daily checks and the management responsible for fixing what those checks revealed.

Wendel's response

Wendel's was contacted last week with a request for comment on this story, including specific questions about cold storage equipment, food safety plan compliance, staff escalation processes, pest control protocols, and staffing.

They have not provided any response up to this point, but this story will be updated in the future if they do eventually provide one.

Why it matters, and where accountability lives

Wendel's is a community asset. The records show a business that responds when inspectors press. They show a business that has invested in real structural improvements, like new baseboards and door slides. They show floor staff credited by name, however informally, by an inspector for hard work in October.

The records also show a business whose cold storage equipment has failed in three consecutive routine inspections. They show food safety and sanitation plans that went out of use during the worst stretch. They show staff who were left without a clear escalation path when temperature limits were missed.

A beloved business owes accountability to its customers. It also owes accountability to the staff whose daily work makes the place run. And to the community whose loyalty has earned it more than thirty employees, a sister bakery, and a place near the top of every Fort Langley list.

Public records are the floor, not the ceiling, of that accountability.

The community deserves to know how the cold storage problem will be resolved permanently, and what kitchen systems will be put in place to ensure the staff who carried the October cleanup are not left carrying the next one alone.

Sources

Tagged in:

Business, Dining, Safety, Health, Township

Last Update: May 12, 2026

About the Author

Rainer Fehrenbacher Langley, BC

Rainer and his family live in the Nicomekl area of Langley City. During his free time, he enjoys going for bike rides with his amazing partner and laughing with his 2 year old son.

View All Posts