A longtime family-owned market in Downey was offering refunds Monday for any ingredients used in their customers’ Christmas tamales that were ruined by bad masa purchased at the store.
A shopping cart full of bad tamales is seen in front of the Amapola Market on Dec. 26, 2016. (Credit: KTLA)
Downey police were called to the Amapola Market on Christmas Day when angry customers began showing up and complaining that the store's masa made their tamales inedible.
In a statement released Monday evening, Chief Financial Officer Carlos Galvan, whose family owns the chain of markets, said he and his family are "saddened and sorry" that customers were disappointed with their product.
This holiday weekend, we sold masa that was below the quality that our customers and us at Amapola are accustomed to enjoying with their families. At no point have we encountered any evidence that made us believe that there are any risk with the consumption of our masa.
A preliminary investigation determined that the defective masa was sold between Dec. 23 and Dec. 24, Galvan said in the statement. The masa apparently stems from "defective corn bought from a national provider of over 15 years," and he said the company has reached out to them.
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health was investigating claims tamales made with the masa had made some people sick.
The bad masa resulted in the tamales not cooking properly, so Galvan said the store would be refunding not only the money for the masa, but the amount spent on all of the ingredients put into the tamales that were ruined, even if some of those ingredients weren’t purchased at the Amapola market.
“Our first priority is to make sure that we have all our customers refunded for the trouble that they went through,” Galvan said.
Galvan said the market, which has been in the community for 55 years, would also work with customers who didn’t have their receipts.
“We’re going to get them their refund as well,” Galvan said, adding that this was the first time something like this has ever happened at the market.
“We’re devastated as well. As a family-run operation, we just can’t even imagine how difficult it is for them,” Galvan said.
Long lines of customers were offered hot coffee as they waited outside the store Monday morning.
Although many were still upset about the ordeal, at least one woman was ready to forgive.
“They’re going to refund everything and everything will be OK,” the customer told KTLA.
By 3 p.m. the store had run out of money. The store will be closed on Tuesday, but will continue handing out refunds on Wednesday. Only customers with a receipt can line up for refunds; those without one will have to fill out a form and submit it online.
The store will have extra security on Wednesday, when employees will open the doors at 7 a.m.
For more information about how to get a refund, customers can visit the store's website, or Facebook page.