Attorney General James Secures Nearly $560,000 from Dollar Tree for Selling Recalled Lead-Contaminated Children’s Food

NEW YORK – New York Attorney General Letitia James today secured nearly $560,000 from Dollar Tree Stores, Inc. (Dollar Tree) for allowing unsafe, lead-contaminated children’s food to be sold at dozens of its New York stores for days following a nationwide recall. An Office of the Attorney General (OAG) investigation found that in October 2023, Dollar Tree received direct notification that WanaBana-brand cinnamon applesauce pouches – largely marketed for babies and young children – were recalled nationwide due to dangerously high levels of lead. Despite this notification, Dollar Tree failed to immediately block sales or fully remove the products from store shelves, allowing hundreds of contaminated applesauce pouches to be sold to customers statewide after the recall began. As part of today’s settlement, Dollar Tree must pay $559,250 in penalties, which will be used to strengthen lead poisoning prevention programs and expand access to healthy, affordable food in underserved New York communities. Dollar Tree must also overhaul its recall policies, including specialized recall training for its store managers in New York.

“Parents should never have to worry that the food they buy at the store could harm their children,” said Attorney General James. “Dollar Tree’s failure to act quickly after learning these products were contaminated put New York families at serious risk. My office is holding Dollar Tree accountable and forcing meaningful changes to make sure recalled and dangerous products are removed from shelves immediately going forward. I will always take action to protect New York’s children from lead poisoning.”

Dollar Tree is a Virginia-based company that owns and operates more than 300 discount variety stores across New York state. Many of these stores are in communities with limited access to large grocery stores or supermarkets, sometimes referred to as food deserts. The OAG investigation determined that Dollar Tree received an urgent notification from its supplier on the morning of October 29, 2023, informing the company that WanaBana apple cinnamon fruit purée pouches had been recalled nationwide after testing revealed dangerously high levels of lead. Dollar Tree failed to take immediate action – delaying for over 24 hours its activation of a “register lock” to prevent cashiers from completing sales of the recalled applesauce products and failing, for weeks at some stores, to remove the recalled products from all store shelves. In one instance, Dollar Tree even released the recalled applesauce pouches to an online purchaser a full week after the recall began.

The OAG found that Dollar Tree sold at least 226 three-pack units of the recalled applesauce in New York after receiving notice of the recall, including sales that occurred days later and even a full week afterward through online order pickup. State health data show that dozens of New York children suffered elevated blood lead levels linked to consumption of the WanaBana cinnamon applesauce products, with most families reporting purchases at Dollar Tree locations. Lead is a highly toxic metal that can cause serious and irreversible health problems, particularly for children under the age of six.

Attorney General James alleges that Dollar Tree’s delayed compliance with the recall violated several New York laws, including prohibitions on selling or displaying contaminated food, and laws governing deceptive business practices. As a result of the investigation, Dollar Tree will pay $559,250, representing roughly $2,474 per 3-pack unit sold in New York after the recall notice. The OAG will direct these funds to support lead poisoning prevention and response efforts, as well as to enhance access to healthy and affordable food in underserved New York communities.

In addition to the monetary penalty, Attorney General James is requiring Dollar Tree to overhaul its food safety and recall procedures in New York. Under the agreement, Dollar Tree must implement stronger recall protocols, including activating register “stop codes” within hours of a recall to prevent sales, enhancing recall training for New York store managers, and strengthening systems to notify customers who purchased food products online that were subsequently recalled. The company will be required to report back to OAG on its compliance.

Consumers who purchased the recalled applesauce received refunds from WanaBana, as well as limited reimbursements for out-of-pocket health care costs related to the lead-contaminated applesauce pouches.

Attorney General James is a national leader on children’s food safety. In the aftermath of the WanaBana recall, Attorney General James promptly warned families who had purchased the recalled products and still had them in their homes of the danger and urged them to dispose of the pouches safely. Attorney General James also led a coalition of attorneys general in calling on the FDA to protect babies and young children nationwide from lead and other toxic metals in baby food. The OAG has investigated several manufacturers of baby food regarding levels of inorganic arsenic found in infant rice cereal products, and in 2022, Attorney General James demanded that baby food brand HolleUSA stop false or misleading advertising of its products as “lead-free” after laboratory testing revealed that several of its baby foods available in New York contained detectable levels of lead.

This matter was handled by Assistant Attorney General Max Shterngel, Chief Environmental Scientist Jodi Feld, Environmental Scientist Amelia Grant-Alfieri, and General Litigation Section Chief Elizabeth Morgan of the Environmental Protection Bureau, as well as Assistant Attorney General Laura C. Dismore of the Consumer Frauds and Protection Bureau. The Environmental Protection Bureau is led by Bureau Chief Lemuel Srolovic and is part of the Division for Social Justice, led by Chief Deputy Attorney General Meghan Faux. The Consumer Frauds and Protection Bureau is led by Bureau Chief Jane M. Azia and Deputy Bureau Chief Laura J. Levine and is part of the Division for Economic Justice, led by Chief Deputy Attorney General Chris D’Angelo. Both the Division for Economic Justice and the Division for Social Justice are overseen by First Deputy Attorney General Jennifer Levy.