By Patrick Smith—
NBC News
The Family Dollar Stores store chain was fined $41.6 million this week for using a rodent-infested warehouse to store food, cosmetics and health products and distribute them from there to more than 400 stores in the south of the country.
It is the largest criminal penalty of its kind, and comes after an investigation by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) found “live, dead and decomposing rodents, feces, urine, as well as odors and “animal nests” at the Family Dollar distribution center in West Memphis (Arkansas), the Department of Justice reported in a statement.
The company — which has 8,000 stores in 46 states and was purchased in 2015 by rival Dollar Tree — pleaded guilty Monday to a misdemeanor charge of causing goods to be “adulterated while kept in unsanitary conditions,” in a hearing in a federal court in Little Rock.
Family Dollar has 8,000 stores in 46 states.
Tim Boyle/Bloomberg via Getty Images file
The department said the fine was the largest ever imposed in a food safety case in the United States.
As part of a plea deal, both Family Dollar Stores and Dollar Tree will have to follow “strict” corporate reporting guidelines for the next three years.
“When consumers go to the store they have the right to expect that the food and medications on the shelves have been kept in clean and uncontaminated conditions,” Acting Assistant Attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer said in the statement.
The plea agreement said that in August 2020, the company first received reports of “mice and pest issues,” although deliveries continued to 404 stores in Alabama, Missouri, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas and Tennessee.
The company admitted that some employees were aware in January 2021 that warehouse conditions were illegal.
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However, it continued shipping goods from the location until January 2022, when the FDA investigation revealed the extent of the infestation.
After fumigating the building, exterminators found 1,270 dead mice, according to the statement.
It was not until February 18, 2022 when all food, medicines, cosmetics and health products from the warehouse were removed.
U.S. Attorney Jonathan D. Ross said, “It is incomprehensible that Family Dollar knew of the rodent and pest problems at its distribution center in Arkansas but continued to ship products that were unsafe and unsanitary.”
“Knowingly selling these types of products not only puts public health at risk, but also
erodes consumer confidence in the products they buy
,” he continued.
Dollar Tree said it had fully cooperated with the department's investigation and was working to change its safety protocols.
“Having reached a complete resolution with the Department of Justice, we continue to advance our business transformation, security procedures and compliance initiatives,” Dollar Tree president and CEO Rick Dreiling, who took office in March, said in a statement. of 2022.
“Since that time, and even more directly when I assumed the position, we have worked diligently to help Family Dollar resolve this historic matter and significantly improve our policies, procedures and physical facilities to ensure it is not repeated,” he added.
The company noted that it plans to return to the West Memphis facility in the fall,
with an investment of $100 million to improve distribution
, while creating 300 jobs.