A Maspeth, NY, seafood importer, a Springfield, VA, bean sprout operation, and a Brooklyn, NY, cheese manufacturer were on the receiving end of recent warning letters from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Shah Poran Distributors Inc. was sent a warning letter dated Aug. 12 from FDA’s New York district office concerning alleged violations of the seafood Hazardous Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) regulations. Specifically, the company was told that its frozen Shad and Hilsa fish are adulterated because they have been prepared, packed or held under insanitary conditions. FDA also warned the company that its fish or fishery products could be refused entry into the U.S. and/or could be seized by federal inspectors unless the violations were promptly corrected. The Good Seed Inc. mung bean sprout operation in VA was informed by FDA’s Baltimore district office on Aug. 17 about environmental sampling federal officials did at the plant, which the agency stated had returned positives for Listeria monocytogenes. The FDA letter further noted that the Listeria findings inside the plant show that “sanitation efforts are inadequate to effectively control pathogens in your facility to prevent contamination of food.” The agency also stated that FDA inspectors had observed “serious violations” of the Current Good Manufacturing Practices (CGMP) food regulations. The company was also cited for failing to use the federal Reportable Food Registry when it knew it had a food adulteration incident (Good Seed has had three recalls this year of soybean and mung bean sprouts), nor did it keep food contact services clean, the F Brooklyn’s 4C Foods Corp., a cheese manufacturer, was told that it has a Salmonella problem inside its cheese-making plant. In a letter dated July 22, FDA said 4C’s Homestyle Grated Parmesan Cheese was found to be contaminated with Salmonella. The agency took environmental samples from 100 locations inside the plant, and a dozen were returned with positives, according to the warning letter. In addition to the contamination, 4C was found to have a pest problem inside the facility. In each letter, FDA requested that the companies provide written responses detailing steps taken to bring the facilities into compliance with food-safety laws and regulations, to correct violations cited in the letters, and to prevent their recurrence. Recipients of these warning letters have 15 working days from receipt to outline specific steps they have taken to come into compliance with the law. (To sign up for a free subscription to Food Safety News, click here.)