Bedford Whole Foods Hit By Credit Card Breach

BEDFORD, NH — The Bedford Whole Foods was recently hit by a data breach affecting customer credit cards, the company announced Thursday. The breach affected the Bedford location's Goffe's Watering Hole, an in-store bar. Customers who used the grocery registers were not affected, the company said.

The breach affected about 50 Whole Foods taprooms across the country. The Nashua Whole Foods' J. Bartlett's Public House was also hit by the breach. The Bedford and Nashua stores are the only Whole Foods locations in New Hampshire. The Whole Foods in Portland, Maine, was also affected by the breach. No Massachusetts stores were affected. (For more information on this and other neighborhood stories, subscribe to Bedford NH Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

"Whole Foods Market recently received information regarding unauthorized access of payment card information used at certain venues such as taprooms and full table-service restaurants located within some stores," the company said in a statement. "These venues use a different point of sale system than the company’s primary store checkout systems, and payment cards used at the primary store checkout systems were not affected."

The company continued, "When Whole Foods Market learned of this, the company launched an investigation, obtained the help of a leading cyber security forensics firm, contacted law enforcement, and is taking appropriate measures to address the issue ... While most Whole Foods Market stores do not have these taprooms and restaurants, Whole Foods Market encourages its customers to closely monitor their payment card statements and report any unauthorized charges to the issuing bank."

Whole Foods, which was purchased by Amazon earlier this year, operates nearly 500 stores.

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