L. MACUNGIE TWP., Pa. — Pennsylvania State Police revealed two more products Friday night may have been tampered with at the Giant store in Lower Macungie Township, Lehigh County.
It comes after officials just announced on Thursday that a former employee placed needles in several products at the store.
Giant employee put sewing needles in food at Lower Macungie store, police say
“I couldn’t believe this was happening in our store,” said Daniel Mills, an Alburtis buyer.
Mills was shopping at Giant on Friday night, just before the brand new announcement: State police say they discovered two other items may have been tampered with.
According to officials, shoppers should now also check:
– King’s Hawaiian Rolls
– Large Starkist Light Tuna pouches (over 2.6 ounces)
Eight items had already been identified by the store as potentially tampered with. They are:
– Tastykakes in individual portion
– bagged fresh green beans
– yellow and white sweet onions in bulk
– fresh green asparagus
– soft-wrapped dog food and treats
– soft-wrapped cat food and treats
– instant mashed potatoes (canned)
– cleaning sponges
State police told 69 News they were able to identify these new objects because the suspect is cooperating with them.
Melissa Stiavelli was also out shopping with her daughter just before the announcement on Friday.
“It’s kind of our go-to store,” Stiavelli said.
Perhaps it’s a testament to how much people love the Trexlertown store.
“They’re very nice to us,” Mills said. “We have always been very happy with it. And I see no reason to change.”
People were still shopping there after that first announcement on Thursday.
“It’s pretty good that it’s empty,” Stiavelli said. “I feel bad for the store.”
Giant says an investigation found an employee – now a former employee – placed needles inside items last Thursday, April 13.
“We’ll check our stuff, but I’m not really worried about it,” Mills said.
Now those who returned to shop on Friday, just before this latest announcement, will have to check their items again.
“Even with what we just bought, I mean I’m definitely going to take a little more caution and try to take a closer look at it,” Stiavelli said.
Giant initially asked buyers to check out these products, purchased between April 13 and April 19, or return them.
Now, officials are also asking to verify these two additional items, but within the same time frame.
“We read about this after already consuming the items,” Mills said, “so we’re extremely grateful that we didn’t have a problem with the items we purchased.”
Officials add that customers who used a registered Giant Rewards card were contacted if an item they purchased was potentially affected.
69 News contacted Giant but did not hear back by the deadline.
State Police are asking anyone who thinks their items have been tampered with to return them to the store and notify the Pennsylvania State Police Fogelsville Criminal Investigation Unit at 610-395- 1438.