1000 Dead Rats Found at US Discount Store Warehouse... 400 Stores Closed

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Nahum] More than 1,000 dead rats were found at the logistics center of a large chain discount store in the United States, leading to the closure of over 400 stores.

According to foreign media reports including The New York Times (NYT), Family Dollar, a chain discount store, temporarily closed about 400 chain stores on the 19th (local time) after such unsanitary conditions were revealed at its logistics center in Arkansas.

Earlier, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced on the 18th that after conducting a sanitation inspection of the Family Dollar logistics center in West Memphis, Arkansas, they found dead rats that were decomposed, rat droppings, and signs of rats gnawing or nesting.

In particular, after the FDA fumigated the facility last month, more than 1,100 dead rats were found. Additionally, a review of the company's records estimated that over 2,300 rats had infested the facility between late March and September of last year.

The FDA stated that this suggests rats had been rampant for a long time and warned that contamination by rats could lead to salmonella or other infectious diseases.

An FDA official said, "No one should be exposed to products stored in unacceptable conditions," adding, "Such conditions appear to violate federal laws that put the health of many families at risk."

Family Dollar decided to voluntarily recall a wide range of products stored at this logistics center that were shipped to 404 chain stores in Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, and Tennessee. These include food, nutritional supplements, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and animal feed stored at the logistics center from early last year to the present.

The company stated, "Customers who may have purchased products related to this incident can return them to the store where they were purchased without a receipt."

Family Dollar is a brand of Dollar Tree, a chain discount store operator, and operates more than 16,000 stores across North America.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.