Family Dollar has pleaded guilty to keeping food, drugs, medical devices, and cosmetics in unsanitary conditions.
The plea is in connection to a rodent infestation at the Family Dollar distribution center in West Memphis, Arkansas.
Now, the company will have to pay $41.675 million. This is the biggest monetary criminal punishment in a food safety matter ever.
The United States Department of Justice has noted that under the plea agreement, Family Dollar and Dollar Tree will have to undergo extensive corporate compliance and reporting guidelines for the next three years.
Family Dollar has said that its West Memphis distribution center provided FDA-regulated items to over 400 Family Dollar locations in Alabama, Missouri, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Tennessee.
Live rodents, dead and decaying rodents, rodent feces, urine, and odors were discovered when a 2022 FDA investigation was conducted. There was also nesting and gnawing found across the facility, as well.
In August 2020, Family Dollar started getting reports of the rodents, from the warehouse, along with the damaged items that they caused. However, the company didn’t stop sending items from the warehouse until January 2022 after the FDA probe.
On February 18, 2022, the company then recalled all drugs, medical devices, cosmetics, and human and animal food items that had been purchased during that time.
