Baking soda causes scare at Chattanooga Area Food Bank

Staff photo by Doug Strickland /
A Chattanooga Fire Department hazmat team responds to a call about three suspicious packages at the Greater Chattanooga Area Food Bank on Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2018, in Chattanooga, Tenn. A white powder was found with the packages that tested positively as baking soda, according to Chattanooga Fire Capt. Wadie Suttles. — Staff photo by Doug Strickland / A Chattanooga Fire Department hazmat team responds to a call about three suspicious packages at the Greater Chattanooga Area Food Bank on Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2018, in Chattanooga, Tenn. A white powder was found with the packages that tested positively as baking soda, according to Chattanooga Fire Capt. Wadie Suttles. Staff photo by Doug Strickland / A Chattanooga Fire Department hazmat team responds to a call about three suspicious packages at the Greater Chattanooga Area Food Bank on Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2018, in Chattanooga, Tenn. A white powder was found with the packages that tested positively as baking soda, according to Chattanooga Fire Capt. Wadie Suttles.

By Staff Report February 27, 2018 1 min read

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.