A massive explosion at a cocoa butter processing facility in New Jersey this week injured five people.
According to CBS News, the explosion happened Wednesday at Savita Naturals in Logan Township, New Jersey. Four employees were inside the building and transported to nearby medical facilities for treatment. A person in a nearby facility suffered a medical emergency during the incident.
The facility and a nearby building sustained “extensive damage” in the explosion, which triggered a shelter-in-place warning for the surrounding area. It’s unclear what caused the explosion but officials did say that there was a large amount of propane stored in the facility.
Savita Naturals describes itself as a provider of specialty oil extraction and related services. Its primary business is cocoa butter processing for chocolate makers, but the company said it has branched out into other segments including CBD solvent extraction.
The business said it relies on normally gaseous solvent propane, in a form that is not adulterated with odor compounds, rather than hexane, so its end products are considered food grade by the FDA.
