News

Pizzeria's business slow long after health scare

April 10, 2005

The Arizona Republic: On a recent March day, Mark Messner had only $17 in his cash register.

"I should have had about $300," said the owner of Pepi's Pizza in south Phoenix. "I looked back over 2 1/2 years of records and never had a day that dismal."

Pepi's had been a thriving neighborhood pizzeria until March 8, when the Maricopa County Public Health Department announced that a former employee had tested positive for hepatitis A.

That frightened customers, who shunned Pepi's, even though the employee had left Feb. 13 and health officials said the danger had passed. Since then, at least two television news stations and The Arizona Republic have run stories about Pepi's clean bill of health. Still, business is not back to normal.

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