Investigation uncovers rodent infestation at Family Dollar warehouse in West Memphis

WEST MEMPHIS, Ark. (WMC) - A disturbing federal investigation is underway at one Mid-South warehouse.

The Food & Drug Administration (FDA) is alerting the public that several categories of FDA-regulated 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.

The impacted products originated from the Family Dollar’s distribution facility in West Memphis, Arkansas. An FDA inspection found unsanitary conditions, including “live rodents, dead rodents, rodent feces, urine, gnawing, nesting and odors throughout the facility, along with dead birds and bird droppings. Eleven hundred dead rodents were recovered during fumigation last month. More than 2,300 rats were collected last year.

The FDA says consumer products were not protected from contamination

Some of the possible contaminated products include:

• Human foods
• Cosmetics
• Animal foods
• OTC medications

The FDA is working to initiate a voluntary recall of the affected products. The said the following in a statement:

“No one should be subjected to products stored in the kind of unacceptable conditions that we found in this Family Dollar distribution facility. These conditions appear to be violations of federal law that could put families’ health at risk.”

Consumers should not use the products and contact the company about impacted products. Consumers should wash their hands immediately if handling any products from the Family Dollar stores.

Rodent contamination may cause Salmonella and other infectious diseases which pose a risk to infants, children, pregnant women, the elderly, and the immunocompromised. Consumers who used affected products should contact a health care professional if they have health concerns.

The FDA is currently investigating.

For more information about the massive product alert, click here.

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