Family Dollar Rat Infestation Closes More Than 400 Stores, Prompts Mass Recalls

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Family Dollar Warehouse Rodent Infestation Overview:

• Who: A rodent infestation at a Family Dollar warehouse has prompted the chain to recall a range of products and temporarily close 400 stores.
• Why: The rodent infestation has caused conditions that placed products in unsanitary conditions, the Food & Drug Administration says.
• Where: The rat infestation at the Arkansas distribution center has impacted stores across six southern states.

A massive rat infestation at a Family Dollar warehouse has prompted the chain to temporarily close more than 400 stores and recall a range of products. 

On Feb. 19, the discount chain store said it had temporarily closed 404 stores in six southern states due to a rodent infestation in one of its Arkansas distribution warehouses.

The discovery of the infestation also prompted a far-reaching recall of food, dietary supplements, cosmetics and other products due to the unsanitary conditions caused by the rats.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was alerted to unsanitary conditions at the Family Dollar distribution center in West Memphis by a consumer complaint.

After an inspection of the West Memphis facility, the FDA reported that it found “live rodents, dead rodents in various states of decay; rodent feces and urine; evidence of gnawing, nesting and rodent odors throughout the facility; dead birds; and bird droppings” at the center.

A fumigation in January turned up more than 1,100 dead rodents, and more than 2,300 were collected last year from March to September. The numbers showed a “history of infestation,” the FDA said.

The chain store’s products were stored in conditions that did not protect against the unsanitary conditions, the agency said. Rodent contamination can cause salmonella and infectious diseases. 

Family Dollar Issues Voluntary Recall of Products

Family Dollar, which is owned by the retail giant Dollar Tree, announced a voluntary recall Feb. 18 of some products. 

The company is not currently facing legal action over the recall, but Top Class Actions follows recalls closely as they sometimes end in class action lawsuits.

The recall includes medicine, pet food and cosmetics sold between Jan. 2021 and Feb. 2022 in Family Dollar stores in Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee.

It applies to products that were sent to the affected stores by the West Memphis distribution center, not to “products shipped directly to the stores by the distributor or manufacturer.”

The FDA advised consumers to throw away any drugs, medical devices, cosmetics and dietary supplements they bought from the affected stores in the past 13 months.

Judith McMeekin, the FDA’s associate commissioner for regulatory affairs, said the consumers who depend on Family Dollar stores for necessary goods such as food and medicine “deserve products that are safe.”

Family Dollar faced a class action lawsuit in 2020 from a customer who claimed the store purposely clutters up their aisles with items and merchandise displays, which violates the Unruh Civil Rights Act and the California Disabled Persons Act.

What do you think of this rat infestation? Let us know in the comments! 

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