The FDA announced that Golden Gate Soy Products, a food manufacturer based in California, is discontinuing selling food products until the company complies with federal regulations. FDA inspections at the company’s facility found Listeria monocytogenes bacteria in the food preparation area and that the company was holding food for distribution under insanitary conditions.
There is zero tolerance for Listeria monocytogenes contamination in ready-to-eat products. The pathogen can become very hard to remove when it becomes established in a facility, especially when conditions are wet or damp.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley for the Northern District of California entered a consent decree of permanent injunction on November 22, 2019. Golden Gate Soy Products manufactures a variety of tofu and soy based products, including soy milk.
FDA Associate Commissioner for Regulatory Affairs Melinda K. Plaisier said in a statement, “The FDA takes its role to protect our food supply very seriously. The inappropriate and unsafe practices of Golden Gate Soy Products not only violated the law, but also put consumers in harm’s way. This type of behavior is unacceptable and is why we took action to prevent the defendants from introducing contaminated or potentially contaminated food products into the marketplace.”
The company is prohibited from receiving, preparing, processing, packing, holding, labeling and/or distributing foods at or from their facility, or any other facility, until certain requirements are met. FDA inspected the company’s facility several times since 2017 and found Listeria monocytogenes during two separate inspections. These inspections also documented multiple violations of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act.
FDA Form 483, which documents food safety violations, was filed during each inspection. On March 5, 2019, the company responded to the FDA, promising corrective actions. But FDA’s follow up inspection “found that none of these promised actions were adequate, resulting in today’s injunction.”
The FDA is not aware of any confirmed illnesses associated with the consumption of these products.
