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Cottonseed Hauler Blames Driver For Dirty Trailer

By Dan Flynn and Suzanna Schreck

Located off Interstate 77 in Hamptonville, NC, the 33-year-old CMC Commodity Transport Inc.  trucks products in both food-grade tankers and "walking floor" trailers.

During an inspection last Feb. 8 & 9, inspectors from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration found that one of CMC's trailers (#78-6073) was used to haul a load of shredded tire chips on the same day it picked up a load of cottonseed.

In a May 12 warning letter to CMC, which FDA made public this week,  the trucking company was told its use of the same trailer for shredded tires and cottonseed caused the food product to be adulterated.

FDA said the cottonseed was found to have pieces of rubber tire and wire in it.  "You indicated to our investigator that it had been your company's practice to use your trailers to haul both feed products and non feed products in the same trailer," the warning letter said.

CMC said its driver should have cleaned the trailer between loads.  The company did not have any written procedure for cleaning trailers before hauling loads of feed. FDA's review of shipping records found at least four other occasions since December 2009 when food items were hauled immediately after deliveries of shredded tires.

Cottonseed is used as a component of a feed ration for cows, and classified as food, according to FDA.  When it contains pieces of shredded tires, cottonseed is "unfit for food," according to the agency.

"As a transporter of animal food, you are responsible for ensuring that your overall  operations and the food you distribute are in compliance with the law," FDA told the company.

CMC, according to the company website, has been hauling bulk feed commodities since 1995.  CMC trucks serve an area that includes the Southeast, Northeast, and Midwest, reaching out as far West as Texas.

Full post as published by Food Safety News on July 30, 2010 (boomark / email).