Howard County health officials allowed a popular Ellicott City Asian-themed supermarket to reopen yesterday afternoon after employees spent nearly a week cleaning it to address numerous health code violations.

The Lotte Plaza supermarket at U.S. 40 and U.S. 29 was permitted to resume operations shortly before 5 p.m. yesterday, said Trudy Hyde, county food protection program manager.

The store was ordered closed Aug. 7 by the Howard County Health Department after a series of inspections, beginning in May, found multiple violations that had not been corrected despite several warnings. The violations included rodent infestation, improperly stored frozen food and water leaking onto food packaging.