The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) posted three warning letters online this past week. They were sent to two dairies and a candy manufacturer. Oomsview Holsteins of Constable, NY, sold a cow to be slaughtered for food which was found to have 8.25 parts per million (ppm) of desfuroylceftiofur (marker residue for ceftiofur) in its kidney tissue. However, FDA has established a tolerance of 0.4 ppm for residues of desfuroylceftiofur in the uncooked edible kidney tissue of cattle, the letter noted. Swiss Hill Farm of West Winfield, NY, sold a bob veal calf to be slaughtered for food which was found to have neomycin at 13.06 ppm in its kidney tissue. FDA has established a tolerance of 7.2 ppm for residues of neomycin in uncooked edible tissues of cattle, but there is no acceptable level of residue associated with the use of the drug in veal calves. In both cases, the presence of the drug residues in edible tissue of the animals caused the food to be adulterated, the agency stated. Chris A. Papas and Sons Co. of Covington, KY, was cited for “significant violations” of FDA’s Current Good Manufacturing Practice (CGMP) regulations for manufacturing, packing, or holding human food. The company’s listed violations included using the same equipment for nut- and non-nut-containing products, failure of employees to wash their hands, and not using a detergent or surfactant to properly wash, rinse, and sanitize food contact surfaces, according to the warning letter. FDA also warned the owners about misbranding violations, which included failing to declare on the label all major food allergens present in Papa’s Chocolate Covered Easter Eggs, failing to bear a complete list of all the ingredients by common or usual name, and failing to include nutrition information in the correct format. Recipients of FDA 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.)