Irritant Gas Causes 14 Workers to Evacuate Struck Food Plant

An irritant similar to tear gas caused the evacuation of 14 workers Wednesday morning at Alex Snack Foods in Anaheim, in the second incident of a week-old strike against the maker of corn chips and potato chips.

Because the gas contaminated food products, the FBI will be asked to investigate the incident as a food-tampering case, a city spokeswoman said.

No one was injured seriously when the tear gas-like substance was released in the building, but seven of the workers were taken to Anaheim Memorial Hospital where, a hospital official said, they were treated for eye and stomach irritation and released.

The incident in the snack chip plant’s production building came a week after more than 65 Alex employees walked off their jobs in a bitter, four-month contract dispute in which management slashed most workers’ hourly pay and eliminated all health benefits.

Last week, strikers alleged that a picket was struck by the fender of a car driven by a member of the family that owns Alex Snack Foods. The striker was not injured, however, and police dropped the matter after witnesses gave conflicting accounts of the incident.

Steve Charton, a director and officer of Alex Snack Foods, said he believes that the release of toxic fumes at the plant Wednesday was directly related to the labor dispute.

“It looks like someone put something in our supplies. We certainly think it was done purposely,” he said. “We’ve never had a problem like this before, and we’ve been here for 40 years. We don’t use any chemicals or any other such substance.”

Greg Conger, a spokesman for United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 551, which represents the striking Alex employees, said he was unaware of the evacuation but added that “it could be possible” the incident is related to the strike. “I would believe it is related,” he said.

Workers at the plant were first affected by the fumes shortly before 9 a.m. Wednesday when one employee noticed that a raw potato chip suddenly turned dark, said city spokeswoman Mary Cords. Because food tampering is a federal offense, she said, “the investigation will be turned over to the FBI.”