FBI Seeks Man Who Poured Mysterious Liquid On Whole Foods Salad Bar As New ‘365’ Stores Bring Buzz
An unknown man walked into a Whole Foods Market store and sprinkled liquid on food. The man being sought by the FBI for pouring some type of unknown liquid substance onto the salad bar at the Whole Foods Market located on Eisenhower Parkway in Ann Arbor, Michigan, can be seen in the below photos.
WANTED: FBI looking for man caught pouring liquid onto unpackaged food at Ann Arbor @WholeFoods. Story @FOX2News 5pm pic.twitter.com/kdfynCNYjq
— Erika Erickson (@ErikaEricksontv) May 2, 2016
Photos of the man who entered Whole Foods Market and poured the liquid on the salad and food bar can also be seen on MLive.
As reported by Fox 2 Detroit, the man who poured the liquid on the Whole Foods Market food and salad bar is being sought by the FBI. The FBI does not know the exact substance that the man sprinkled or poured onto food at the salad bar. Tests run on the substance have uncovered the liquid to not be harmful — however, authorities would not say they are 100 percent sure that the substance sprinkled at the Whole Foods Market store wasn’t harmful.
The full statement released by the Midwest representative of Whole Foods Market Public Relations, Allison Phelps, explains how a Whole Foods Market employee witnessed the man sprinkling the unknown liquid onto food and immediately told superiors at Whole Foods Market, who in turn contacted the police.
“After witnessing an individual pouring a liquid on items at the food bars at the 990 W. Eisenhower Whole Foods Market location, a team member alerted store leadership to the suspicious activity and the Ann Arbor Police Department was notified. Out of an abundance of caution, all salad and hot food bars were immediately closed down at the store, all food was thrown out and the store team thoroughly cleaned and sanitized all food stations, equipment and serving utensils before restocking with fresh items. Whole Foods Market is cooperating fully with the Ann Arbor Police Department on this matter, and all surrounding Michigan store locations have been notified of the incident. Additional questions should be directed to the Ann Arbor Police Department.”
The photos of the man are being circulated in hopes that someone recognizes him and contacts the FBI at 855-324-7257.
How will Whole Foods do cheap? No butchers, fishmongers or elaborate produce displays in new "365" stores https://t.co/5yrO9MBYxo
— BuzzFeed Business (@BuzzFeedBiz) May 2, 2016
Meanwhile, as the mysterious man is still being sought by the FBI, Whole Foods is making news for their new 365 by Whole Foods Market stores, as reported by BuzzFeed. The 365 stores are said to be ones that should feature lower-priced foods than normally found in Whole Foods Market stores.
Lower prices aren’t the only differences between the 365 by Whole Foods Market stores and the Whole Foods Market stores that customers are accustomed to using. The 365 stores will keep fewer items in their inventory and not feature the highest prices of the Whole Foods Market stores.
Look for the initial 365 stores to open on May 25 in Los Angeles, with more 365 stores to come, reports Whole Foods. With a greater portion of the Whole Foods Market hot foods and salad bar items coming in pre-prepared formats in the 365 stores, perhaps incidents like the above whereby the man poured a liquid onto foods would be lessened. More of those pre-prepared foods will not be prepared in-house at 365 by Whole Foods Market stores, which requires less labor at the 365 stores.
More differences at the 365 stores include less fanfare with fancy food displays, plus less service in the meat and seafood departments. Whole Foods Market stores are known for their fanciful displays — but more pre-packaged foods means customers at 365 stores can get in and get out with the food they want to buy and eat instead of cook and eat.
Lastly, the new 365 by Whole Foods Market stores will be smaller and therefore less expensive to build and operate.
[Photo by AP Photo/Reed Saxon]
