The FDA issued an advisory about possibly hazardous products owing to unsanitary conditions, including a mouse infestation, prompting the closure of Family Dollar stores across the Mid-South.
The US Food and Drug Administration said on Friday that more than 1,000 rodents were discovered inside a Family Dollar distribution plant in Arkansas, as the chain issued a voluntary recall on items purchased from hundreds of locations across the US south.
Inspectors had found live rodents, dead rodents in “various states of decay”, rodent feces, dead birds, and bird droppings. After fumigating the facility, more than 1,100 dead rodents were recovered, officials said.
The Food and Drug Administration is alerting the public that products purchased from Jan. 1, 2021, through the present from Family Dollar stores in Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, and Tennessee may be unsafe for consumers to use.
“No one should be subjected to products stored in the kind of unacceptable conditions that we found in this Family Dollar distribution facility,” said Judith McMeekin, associate FDA commissioner for regulatory affairs.
The products that were stored in that facility from January 1, 2021, to the present have been voluntarily recalled by Family Dollar. Among the products, the FDA lists as potentially being contaminated with Salmonella include food (both human and animal), cosmetics, and over-the-counter medicine.
The FDA is asking customers not to use and dispose of these products. It is also asking all who have shopped at Family Dollar recently to contact a health care professional with any concerns after using or handling impacted products.
The company said it was “not aware of any consumer complaints or reports of illness related to this recall”. Nonetheless, it listed 404 stores that might have sold products from the contaminated facility.
The FDA said food in non-permeable packaging “may be suitable for use if thoroughly cleaned”.
Regardless of packaging, all drugs, medical devices, cosmetics, and dietary supplements should be thrown away, officials said.
“Family Dollar is notifying its affected stores by letter asking them to check their stock immediately and to quarantine and discontinue the sale of any affected product,” the company said.
“Customers that may have bought affected product may return such product to the Family Dollar store where they were purchased without receipt.”
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Sources: Scallywagandvagabond, Abcnews, Independent
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