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Warning Issued to Minneapolis Food Warehouse

By Dan Flynn and Suzanna Schreck

A warehouse for a Minneapolis food concessioner did not pass inspection last July, and conditions found there resulted in a Dec. 6 warning letter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
FDA sent the warning letter to Weizhen Lin, owner and manager of the New Wha Ming Trading of MN, Inc., for what it said were serious violations of federal food safety regulations.  The significant violations listed were:
-- Failure to protect against food contamination by pests.
-- Live rodents, dead rodents, rodent excreta pellets, rodent nesting and rodent gnawed material, fluorescing urine stains on product packaging and in food, live birds, bird debris, and dead insects.  
--  Open loading doors that might allow pests to gain entry into the building.
--  Failure to maintain buildings, fixtures, or other physical facilities in a sanitary condition and in repair sufficient to prevent food from becoming adulterated.  
-- Standing water in the walk space behind the coolers and freezer. ?
-- A plant, which appeared to be growing out of the wall of the warehouse, near the standing water.  
-- Standing water in the meat cooler where broccoli was being stored.?
-- Standing water near the emergency exit in the the cooler.
-- Failure to provide, where necessary, adequate screening or other protection against pests.  
-- A gap approximately 9" long and ½" tall under the loading door.?
-- A gap the length of the loading dock door.
-- Failure to remove litter and waste, and to cut weeds or grass within the immediate vicinity of the plant buildings.
-- Weeds along all sides of the building, grown to heights between 6 inches to two feet. 
?--  Trees branches within close proximity to the building. ?
-- Brush piled approximately one foot from the side of the building. ?
-- Refuse, such as spilled fruit and produce, paper and other litter, on the ground directly in front of the loading door. ?
-- Debris, including cement blocks, a tire, and a pole, stacked in the corner near the loading door.
The FDA warning letter told Lin products in the warehouse are "adulterated" under federal law "because your food products have been held under insanitary conditions whereby the food products may have become contaminated with filth or rendered injurious to health."
The company was given 15 working days to respond to FDA's concerned documentation including photographs of any corrections.
U.S Marshals, who seized food items being stored there, raided a food warehouse in New Mexico with similar conditions earlier this week.

Full post as published by Food Safety News on December 17, 2010 (boomark / email).