Scoring a bargain is great. And the best place to get more bang for your buck is usually at your local dollar store.
However, when you walk into your local dollar store, you never imagine that the items you’re handling could be unsafe. However, that is exactly the case if you’re a customer shopping at a Family Dollar within the states of Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, or Tennessee.
As of January 22nd, 2022, the FDA has been investigating a complaint coming from a consumer regarding a Family Dollar warehouse located in West Memphis, Arkansas.
The investigation wrapped up earlier this month, and what was found was quite shocking. In fact, the results of the investigation forced Family Dollar to make the decision to recall many of their products, as well as close 404 of their store locations.
The reason for such actions? The FDA found more than 1,000 dead rats inside their warehouse along with dead birds, rat feces, and urine all throughout the establishment. This was particularly alarming because the warehouse is where the company stores various items, including cosmetics, food, and medicine – the items you definitely don’t want coming in contact with rat droppings.
More shocking is the fact that the rodent infestation at the warehouse wasn’t the first one on record. According to the company’s records, more than 2,000 dead rodents were removed from the warehouse between March 29th and September 17th 2021.
According to the FDA, a statement from DA Associate Commissioner for Regulatory Affairs, Judith McMeekin, Pharm.D, read: “Families rely on stores like Family Dollar for products such as food and medicine. They deserve products that are safe.”
McMeekin added, “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. We will continue to work to protect consumers.”
Should you have made any purchases from a Family Dollar store between January 1, 2022, and now, then you might want to throw it away – especially if it is from one of the affected states of Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, or Tennessee.
As the FDA cautions, coming in contact with rodent droppings can lead to salmonella poisoning or other infectious diseases, and are of particular risk to “infants, children, pregnant women, the elderly, and immunocompromised people,” so if you have any health concerns regarding any of these products you should get in contact with your doctor. Furthermore, if you have purchased the items listed in the recall, you can contact the Family Dollar Customer Service at 844-636-7687.