FDA Issues Warning Letters To Beef Producers, Dairies, Juice Makers, And Seafood Processors
By Sam Lewis
Drug misuse in raising livestock, HACCP violations, and food misbranding are on the list of breaches the FDA found in facility inspections over the last few weeks.
Of the six dairies the FDA sent warning letters to, most of the violations were due to findings of drug misuse. In Pennsylvania, Hillcrest Dairy was cited and received an FDA warning letter for selling a cow to be slaughtered that was tested for a new, unsafe drug used in animal production. The FDA also informed the dairy that animals were being held in unsanitary conditions. “A food is deemed to be adulterated if it has been held under insanitary conditions whereby it may have been rendered injurious to health,” reads the letter.
New York’s O’Dell Farms experience a similar situation. The FDA found excessive amounts of two different drugs in two different tissues samples from one of the company’s cows. O’Dell too was cited for inadequate animal conditions. Two more dairies — one in New York, Fessenden Dairy, and one in Pennsylvania, belonging to Joseph Oberholtzer — were cited for excessive drug levels in animal tissue samples.
Antibiotic Use Is OK In Livestock Production, Says NY Court
Dennis Lopnow, a Wisconsin beef producer, was cited and given a warning letter from the FDA for giving an unapproved drug to a veal calf. Additionally, two more cattle producers — one in Pennsylvania, Vernon Zimmerman, and New York’s Imer Barton — were cited unapproved drug administering and excessive levels on penicillin in tissue samples, respectively.
Outside of the realm of livestock production, the FDA issued warning letters to a couple of juice makers. First, Ohio’s Garden of Flavor was cited by the FDA for having “serious violations in its Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) plan. Next, Pennsylvania’s Goodlife Juices received a warning letter and citation from the FDA for its claims about its products on the company’s website. The company’s therapeutic claims about its juice products come across as “unapproved drugs” as well as misbranded food, says the FDA.
Finally, two seafood processors, Wang Globalnet and Taiyo Seafood, were cited and received warning letters from the FDA for serious violations in HACCP plans.
Each warning letter from the FDA asks companies to provide a written response explaining steps to be taken that will correct issues at hand, making the company compliant with food safety regulations. The companies are expected to follow these noted corrections, ensuring them from reoccurring. Companies receiving letters are given 15 working days from delivery date to detail steps toward compliance.