The state of Texas is suing a Halal food establishment and its business partners for several food safety violations, including holding food in an extremely unsanitary warehouse, Courthouse News Service reported yesterday.

Goat-feature.jpgHalal Import Food Market’s warehouse was inspected after a Texas state trooper found 148 dead goat carcasses stacked inside an unrefrigerated van. Health inspectors not only found filthy conditions at the warehouse, but discovered that 102 dead goats and boxes of organs had disappeared in transit. 

According to Courthouse News Service, the complaint describes the warehouse as having, “dead birds and bird droppings on food products…live bird flying around the warehouse and resting on food products,” and points to “trash piled 6 feet deep in some places.” 

The complaint also adds that inspectors found “numerous dead rodents, numerous rodent droppings along with gnawed materials and debris,” and meat rotting in a grinder.

“Cigarette butts, rotting fruit, peels, partially eaten chicken and other food,” were also scattered about the warehouse, according to the complaint.

Texas is suing Halal Import Food Market, Zamzam Supermarket, World Food Market (the two stores the state believes received the missing goat meat), Adel, Sam, Nihaya, Jamal and Shoukry Mohammed Qaddura and Riyad Ibrahim.

Halal Import Market has been cited for food safety violations since as early as 2001.

The state is seeking fines of up to $25,000 per day from each defendant for each violation of safety regulations and wants all the contaminated food destroyed.