Alfredo sauce spill closes Memphis highway after semi-truck crash

Part of Interstate 55 in Memphis was forced to close around rush hour on Tuesday evening after an 18-wheeler crashed and unleashed a load of alfredo sauce that spilled over multiple lanes.

The crash involved a tractor-trailer carrying jars of Five Brothers alfredo sauce, according to CBS affiliate WREG. No injuries were reported, according to WREG. 

The crash occurred around 4:30 p.m. near McLemore along I-55. One woman was transported to a local hospital in non-critical condition, the Memphis Police Department told CBS News. Police said northbound traffic was briefly blocked as “alfredo sauce spilled on the interstate.”

Videos and photos from the scene showed multiple vehicles stopped on the shoulder of the interstate beneath an overpass. Closer to the center barrier, a semi-truck with a large gash in its cargo trailer could be seen. A thick, white substance coated multiple lanes across the highway. Authorities did not initially confirm what the substance was, WREG reported, but several reporters were able to identify it right away. 

“Yep, it’s an alfredo sauce spill on I-55,” the news outlet tweeted. 

Meanwhile, Fox 13 Memphis’ Kate Bieri, whose notes from the scene went viral on social media, said the aroma wafting over the interstate spoke for itself. 

“You can smell it!” Bieri wrote, sharing videos of the mess and subsequent cleanup operation.

The alfredo sauce spill happened on the heels of a similar situation that stalled traffic in California on Monday, when a big-rig truck crashed on Interstate 80 and spilled tomatoes across the road, blocking lanes traveling both eastbound and westbound.