The AP reports that a U.S. District Judge has shut down Chung’s Products, which sells Asian food in the United States, for producing food under unsanitary conditions. The FDA sent Chung’s a warning letter in 2007, and filed an injunction against the facility three years ago. Chung’s products have been sold at Walmart, Target, Kroger, Albertson’s, Price Chopper, and other grocery store chains around the country.
The warning letter stated that the facility had serious violations of the seafood Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) regulation. The packaging was impermeable to oxygen, creating an atmosphere conducive to Clostridium botulinum growth and toxin formation.
In addition, the information sheet supplied to retailers told them to hold the product at 45 degrees F or below, which would allow the formation of botulism toxins. The toxins are not destroyed by heat, meaning that even if the consumer heated the egg rolls properly, they could still get sick. The facility also had problems with the safety of its water, the cleanliness of food contact surfaces, prevention of cross-contamination, the protection of food from adulteration.
The injunction target’s Chung’s seafood products. The announcement stated that, “a 2009 FDA inspection of the firm showed significant deficiencies with the firm’s HACCP plan, including the continued failure to control for the risk of Clostridium botulinum toxin formation in its shrimp egg rolls. The 2009 inspection also found the presence of Listeria monocytogenes in the firm’s egg roll processing environment.”
Update: Chung’s is resuming production on its non-seafood products, including non-seafood egg rolls. The facility may return to full operation soon.
