INDIANAPOLIS -- Rodents in fortune cookies, bird droppings on food bags and raw chicken stored too hot -- those were but a few of the problems federal and state inspectors said they found at an Indianapolis food distributor over the last nine years.

When consumers go out to eat, they have no way of knowing how the food was kept before it arrived on a plate.

They also don't know if the food came from United Metro Distribution, a warehouse on Indianapolis' east side that sells its products to Asian restaurants within a 300-mile radius, 6News' Joanna Massee reported.

United Metro Distribution has a long history of health and safety violations. Loren Coon, a former truck driver, said he vividly remembers a delivery he made at the facility that prompted him to file a complaint with the Indiana State Department of Health.

"When I got there, it was disgusting, just the stench, the rats running around," Coon said. "They just skedaddled everywhere from the shipping docks."

Coon's complaint was not the first filed against United Metro Distribution, and it wasn't the last. State and federal food safety inspectors began finding violations at the warehouse in 2000.

6News counted more than 100 violations. Inspectors said they found birds, live mice, rodent feces and bird droppings inside the facility.

Inspectors would sometimes return and find improvements that they had ordered. Sometimes, follow-up inspections found the same violations.

Photos taken during a 2008 inspection showed a live mouse, food that was possibly contaminated with urine and other evidence of rodent activity.

With the help of interpreter Dinah Zhang, 6News checked with Indianapolis restaurants who buy products from United Metro.

None of the restaurants said they were aware of the company's violations. Some said they were generally satisfied with the distributor, but others said they had issues.

"The vegetables are not very fresh, so mostly we just order canned goods," said one restaurant worker, through the interpreter.

At another restaurant, an employee said he had visited United Metro's warehouse.

"Their warehouse was very old and ragged," the man told the interpreter.

When 6News went to the warehouse to ask owner Tak Lee about the violations, he denied the company is putting the public at risk.

"No, I'm not, and I don't feel like being on camera," he said.

Lee said his business takes the necessary steps to correct violations, but didn't want to allow cameras inside.

"I don't like to just show everyone," he said.

Lee said the company's No. 1 concern is that everything it sells is safe to consume. He said rodents and birds are no longer a problem.

"These kinds of animals are carriers of disease-causing agents, like salmonella," said Professor David McSwane, a food safety expert at Indiana University Purdue University-Indianapolis. "The issue of pests … looks as if over the years is somewhat of a chronic problem."

ISDH refused to comment specifically on United Metro because the Food and Drug Administration is currently investigating the company, but Scott Gilliam, food protection program director, talked about the general process.

"Sometimes it will appear that it may be years, but it's a situation where the facility improves, then goes back down, then improves, then goes back down," Gilliam said. "If it's a situation where they really are not complying, then we would need to take enforcement action after all other avenues have failed."

Indiana law empowers the state to issue fines, call hearings and even shut down wholesalers with repeat violations.

While there have been more than 100 violations at United Metro Distribution, records the state provided to 6News showed that ISDH had issued just two formal warning letters and one five-day embargo.

State Rep. Peggy Welch, D-Bloomington, is vice-chair of the House Public Health Committee and is also a practicing nurse.

While she couldn't speak to the specific situation involving United Metro, she promised to pursue the matter.

"I appreciate you bringing it to my attention, and I'll bring it to the attention of other colleagues," she said. "I've made a call to the State Department of Health."

While consumers don't know who supplied food to restaurants and how it is handled, work done by the restaurant itself can help mitigate any possible issues.

The FDA won't comment on open investigations, but federal inspectors spent several days at United Metro in May and sent the company a warning letter in September.