Off-price retail chain Family Dollar has pleaded guilty to selling products from a rodent-infested warehouse at 400 stores across the Southeast and will pay a record $41.7 million in fines, according to federal authorities. It’s planned.
In 2022, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration detected “live rodents, dead and decomposing rodents, rodent feces, urine, and odors” at the company’s warehouse in Arkansas, where it stored food, cosmetics, and medical devices. ” was discovered. Ministry of Justice he said on Tuesday.
The FDA report also found that Family Dollar had received rodent reports a year before the investigation and that the company continued to ship potentially contaminated products to its stores despite this. It was also revealed that.
The retailer, a subsidiary of Dollar Tree, will pay $41.7 million in fines and forfeitures, the largest criminal penalty ever in a food safety case. As part of the plea agreement, Family Dollar and Dollar Tree must also meet “rigorous” reporting requirements for the next three years.
“Intentionally marketing these types of products not only endangers the public’s health, but also undermines consumer confidence in the products they purchase,” U.S. Attorney Jonathan D. Ross said in a statement.
Family Dollar Store acknowledged that it first received reports of “rat and pest issues” in August 2020, but its warehouses in Arkansas are located in Alabama, Missouri, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Tennessee. It continued to supply products to 404 stores in the state.
The report states that as of January 2021, multiple employers were aware that sanitary conditions in their warehouses were illegal and that some stores were accepting rodents and produce spoiled by rodents. It became clear that
Still, Family Dollar Stores continued to ship products from its warehouses until January 2022, when the FDA revealed the scale of the outbreak. The exterminator reported that in the subsequent fumigation he killed 1,270 rats.
On February 18, 2022, the company recalled medical equipment, cosmetics, and food products supplied from the same warehouse throughout the year.
Family Dollar Co. on Monday pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count of contaminating merchandise under unsanitary conditions.
Dollar Tree – acquired the 8,000-store Family Dollar chain in 2015 – said on monday The company is working extensively with the Department of Justice to continue to strengthen its hygiene measures, including rebuilding its safety team and conducting third-party audits across its distribution centers.
“We have reached a full resolution with the Department of Justice and our company continues to move forward with our business transformation, safety procedures and compliance efforts,” Dollar Tree Chairman and CEO Rick Dreyling said in a statement. Stated.
The company plans to invest $100 million and open a new facility in Memphis this fall, creating an additional 300 jobs in Arkansas.
