Modern Macaroni Co. Ltd., manufacturers of Hawaiian-style Hula Brand noodles, earlier this month received a warning letter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) charging that two of its major products are adulterated. The FDA warning letter states that the artificially colored shrimp flakes known as Hula Brand Hana Ebi and the Hula Brand Fun Chow noodles, both sold by Modern Macaroni, are adulterated in that they were “prepared, packed, or held under insanitary conditions whereby they may have been rendered injurious to health.” The warning letter from FDA’s San Francisco office follows an April 16-28, 2014, inspection of Modern Macaroni’s facility in Honolulu. It states that inspectors found the facility was in violation of federal food safety regulations, including those covering the seafood Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) planning requirements and provisions for Current Good Manufacturing Practices (CGMPs). In addition, the FDA inspection found that the green Hula Brand Hana Ebi was misbranded because of sulfite content and color analysis mistakes. Modern Macaroni was also advised that it had failed to disclose the presence of a color additive and a preservative on the Hula Brand Hana Ebi (green) shrimp flakes. The inspection also turned up sanitation problems, including failure to clean a grinder between uses, leaving it caked with both red- and green-colored shrimp flakes, and using worn trays to hold and dry the product. Also, there was no warm water available in the employee restroom serving the area, FDA stated. And, in violation of Current Good Manufacturing Practices, the agency claimed that the hanging rods and drying trays used in noodle making were found to be both worn and not easily cleanable. The floors, walls, metal fans, and racks in the cleaning room were also found to be heavily worn and coated with dust and debris. “The condition of this room is such that dust and debris may be blown into the air by fans, then settle onto the drying noodles,” the warning letter stated. A seafood processing facility in Brookfield, CT, also received a recent FDA warning letter. FDA inspected the facility owned by Japanese Specialty Food Distributor Ltd. Co. on five separate dates in late July and early August. Most of the warning letter concerns the company’s failure to have a HACCP for its frozen, vacuum-packed raw salmon and frozen, vacuum-packed raw tuna, which means that the products are adulterated. FDA says the company must have a hazard analysis for each kind of fish and fishery product it produces, maintain good sanitation conditions as required by CGMPs, and implement written verification processes. Both companies were given 15 days to respond to the concerns raised by the FDA warning letters. Neither has yet commented on them publicly.