The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is escalating the investigation into Dollar Tree’s handling of recalled baby food products contaminated with toxic levels of lead, threatening to pursue legal action and seizure of assets if the situation is not rectified.

The letter sent from the agency to the CEO of the popular discount store chain, Rick Dreiling, is the latest step in an investigation over the mishandling of the recall of WanaBana apple cinnamon fruit puree pouches and apple sauce due to high levels of lead.

“The FDA is issuing this warning letter to Dollar Tree, Inc., because, at the time of the recall, the company failed to adequately remove recalled WanaBana apple cinnamon fruit puree pouches from its store shelves,” said a press statement from the agency.

In November, WanaBana voluntarily recalled the contaminated products, produced at a processing plant in Ecuador. The FDA’s investigation of the plant and cooperation with Ecuadorian authorities found that the high amounts of lead came from the cinnamon used in the products, which would have been labeled as safe under Ecuadorian health rules. 

The warning letter details that the recalled puree pouches were still on the shelves of various Dollar Tree stores across the country within weeks and months of the recall.

“Failure to adequately address this matter may result in legal action, including, without limitation, seizure and injunction,” the letter said.

Dollar Tree did not respond to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment at the time of publication.

“Importantly, when a food is recalled, retailers play a crucial role in carrying out the recall by ensuring that all recalled products are not available to consumers at their store,” said the agency’s press release.

Dollar Tree has until July 9 to respond to the violations listed in the letter and provide corrective action to its process of removing recalled products.