The U.S. Department of Justice made the announcement of the permanent injunction on Monday, saying L.A. Star Seafood Co. Inc. at 609 East 4th Street, in downtown L.A.s “Little Tokyo” has been the focus of inspections by the USDA for the past several years. Inspectors found unsanitary conditions on every visit.
The cease business order will stay in effect until the company, owned by Sima and Sam Goldring, “can demonstrate to the FDA that they can process food in compliance with food safety laws and regulations.” according to the USDA press release.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer of the DOJ’s Civil Division said the company had been repeatedly cited for unsanitary conditions at the facility, as well as having inadequate plans for hazard control or HACCP plans to address Histamine formation in seafood.
Mizer said, “The failure to actively plan for and control the presence of bacteria and neurotoxins commonly found in seafood processing facilities can pose a serious risk to the public health.” He also pointed to poor manufacturing processes and unclean surfaces and utensils used in the processing of the raw seafood.
Histamine poisoning – What is this?
Histamine fish poisoning or as it is sometimes called, Scombroid Fish Poisoning is a foodborne illness associated with the consumption of fish that has been improperly stored and processed. It was once considered to be a problem with the eating of scombroid fish, like mackerel or tuna, but it has been proven to affect other fish as well. According to the CDC, Histamine fish poisoning constitutes almost 40 percent of all seafood-related-foodborne-illnesses reported in the U.S..
Histamine levels start increasing, albeit slowly, in fish once they are caught. If fish are left in warm temperatures, or eviscerated in unsanitary conditions, the likelihood of bacterial contamination increases, and along with the warmth cames the release of additional histamine into the flesh of the fish. So it makes a huge difference in how long a fish sits before it is cleaned, and it makes an even bigger difference that the fish is kept at the proper temperature to avoid spoilage.
A long list of problems with the FDA
In 2012, at the request of the FDA, the company had to recall Vobla Dry and Vobla Smoked fish products because the fish had not been eviscerated per FDA instructions that outlined the limit on the size of fish to under five inches. The products also had no lot numbers or expiration dates.
On June 14, 2013, the company was sent a warning letter because of its failure to comply with corrective actions to violations, and there were many. One of the big violations was not having a Hazard Analysis & Critical Control Points (HACCP) plan.
For those who have never heard of the HACCP plan, it is simply a management tool that addresses the analysis and control of biological, chemical, and physical hazards of a raw food product through all phases of handling, production, distribution and consumption.
So in other words, the FDA was asking that for every kind of fish L.A.Star Seafood Company Inc. used in the production of its salted or pickled seafood products, they needed a written sheet outlining the hazards as well as an analysis of those hazards and what sort of compliance they intended to put in place to address them.
The warning letter outlined very carefully each and every violation and what was needed to correct the violation. Of course, a follow-up inspection in 2014 showed the company had not addressed any of the violations, leaving the FDA with no other recourse.
Does anyone wonder why this company was allowed to stay in business despite the numerous violations of the food safety codes in place?