The Chattanooga Area Food Bank was evacuated Tuesday after three suspicious packages containing a white, powdery substance were received there.
The packages were addressed to board members, said president and CEO Gina Crumbliss.
“When I opened one of them, a white powder spilled out and I saw a box labeled ‘baking soda,'” she said in a news release. “We immediately implemented our internal safety and security protocol and called the Chattanooga Police Department to report the incident.”
The Chattanooga police and fire departments were there within minutes, conducting a full evacuation and investigation, according to the release.
Chattanooga Fire Department hazmat unit members tested the contents of all three packages and confirmed the substance was 99.9 percent sodium bicarbonate, otherwise known as baking soda.