SOUTH HADLEY — A South Hadley resident reportedly received an unsolicited packet of seeds in the mail, which the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has warned Americans against planting.
People around the country have received similar packets of seeds that appear to come from China, according to the federal agency, where the South Hadley resident’s package also seemed to originate. The Chinese postal service has said that the address labels from China were falsified.
Sharon Hart, the town’s director of public health, said that the resident notified the South Hadley Health Department. Hart then informed the state.
The USDA says that the seeds are likely part of a “brushing scam,” where sellers send out unsolicited items and then post fabricated customer reviews.
Anyone who receives an unsolicited package of seeds should contact their state plant regulatory official or Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service state plant health director, according to the USDA. The department is collecting seed packages and testing their contents to see if they could pose any other concerns.
A spokesman for The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China said in a press conference on Tuesday that labels indicating the packages came from China “turned out to be fake ones with erroneous layouts and entries,” and is asking the United States Postal Services to send the packages to China for investigation.
“USDA is committed to preventing the unlawful entry of prohibited seeds and protecting U.S. agriculture from invasive pests and noxious weeds,” the agency said in a news release.
Jacquelyn Voghel can be reached at jvoghel@gazettenet.com.