Hundreds of Family Dollar stores closed due to rodent infestation

WEST MEMPHIS, Ark. (WMC) - Widespread closure of Family Dollar stores across the Mid-South came after an alert from the FDA reporting potentially contaminated products due to unsanitary conditions, including a rodent infestation.

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.

The impacted products originated from the Family Dollar’s distribution facility in West Memphis, Arkansas.

Due to the FDA report, 404 Family Dollar stores have been temporarily closed, WMC reports.

Internal records from Family Dollar show around 2,300 rodents were collected at the facility between late March and mid-September of last year. A former Family Dollar employee sent video dated January 2021 of rats throughout the distribution center.

An FDA inspection found unsanitary conditions, including “live rodents, dead rodents... rodent feces and urine, evidence of gnawing, nesting and rodent odors throughout the facility, dead birds and bird droppings.” More than 1,100 dead rodents were recovered during fumigation last month.

The products that were stored in that facility from January 1, 2021, to 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 to 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.

Family Dollar said in a statement, “We take situations like this very seriously and are committed to providing safe and quality products to our customers. We have been fully cooperating with all regulatory agencies in the resolution of this matter and are in the process of remediating the issue.”

Family Dollar says they are reaching out to the affected stores to check stock and inventory for affected products and to quarantine and discontinue the sale of them.

For a list of the 404 affected stores, click here.

Anyone with questions regarding the recall should contact Family Dollar Customer Service at 844-636-7687 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. EST.

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