WEST MEMPHIS, Ark. (AP) – More than 1,000 rodents were found inside a Family Dollar distribution facility in Arkansas, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced Friday as the chain issued a voluntary recall affecting items purchased from hundreds of stores in the South.
A consumer complaint prompted officials to inspect the West Memphis, Arkansas, facility in January, the FDA said in a news release. Inside the building, inspectors said they found live rodents, dead rodents in “various states of decay,” rodent feces, dead birds and bird droppings.
After fumigating the facility, more than 1,100 dead rodents were recovered, officials said.
“No one should be subjected to products stored in the kind of unacceptable conditions that we found in this Family Dollar distribution facility,” said Associate Commissioner for Regulatory Affairs Judith McMeekin.
The FDA said it is working with Family Dollar to begin a voluntary recall of affected products.