Home Style Foods, a seafood and salad processor in Hamtramck, Michigan has been enjoined against producing and distributing ready-to-eat seafood salads, non-seafood salads, pierogis, and dips because they were processed under insanitary conditions, according to the Department of Justice. The complaint was filed on January 13, 2020 against the company and the company’s president, Michael J. Kowalski.
The complaint states that the company “violated the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act by processing and distributing fish products and other food, including salads, pierogis, and dips, in a facility where government inspectors previously found evidence of Listeria contamination. The complaint also alleged violations of seafood safety regulations designed to mitigate hazards associated with the processing of fish and fishery products. According to the complaint, FDA issued a warning letter to Home Style Foods in April 2016.”
Assistant Attorney General Jody Hunt, for the Justice Department’s Civil Division, said in a statement, “The Department of Justice is committed to safeguarding consumer health by rigorously enforcing America’s food safety laws. We will continue to work with FDA to ensure that companies take food sanitation and safety laws seriously.”
The FDA worked with the company after repeated food safety violations were found at the company’s facility, but the company did not take appropriate corrective action to fix the problem, according to the notice. There is zero tolerance for Listeria contamination in ready-to-eat foods in the United States.
The company can comply with the specific remedial measures that were enumerated in the injunction and then can process and distribute its products again, according to the Justice Department.
