Source: United States Department of Justice News
A federal court today enjoined an Irvington, Alabama, company and several of its operators from distributing adulterated seafood products in violation of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA).
In a civil complaint for permanent injunction filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama on April 25, the United States alleged that Irvington Seafood, Inc., and its owner, Kevin S. Sakprasit, and company officers Helene Nou and Kammie C. Richardson, violated the FDCA by distributing adulterated ready-to-eat crabmeat products. According to the complaint, the defendants process the products at their Alabama facility and then sell and distribute them to businesses and consumers throughout the country.
The complaint alleges that between 2006 and 2022, multiple Food and Drug Administration (FDA) inspections of the defendants’ facility revealed that the defendants prepared, packaged, and held crabmeat products under insanitary conditions and failed to comply with required current good manufacturing practices and seafood hazard analysis critical control point (HACCP) regulations. According to the complaint, during inspections of the defendants’ facility FDA inspectors found, among other things: the presence of maggots, flies, and roaches; the presence of the bacteria Listeria monocytogenes on food contact and non-food contact surfaces of equipment; and that employees were failing to properly wash their hands and aprons. Food contaminated with L. mono can cause serious illness and even death in vulnerable groups, such as newborns and people with impaired immune systems. The complaint alleges that the defendants failed to take necessary corrective actions after repeated FDA warnings.
“Food manufacturers and distributors must operate in strict compliance with the law,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “The department is committed to working hand in hand with the FDA to help ensure the safety of the nation’s food supply.”
The defendants agreed to settle the suit and be bound by a consent decree of permanent injunction. The order entered by the federal court permanently enjoins the defendants from violating the FDCA and requires that they destroy all raw ingredients and food products currently in their possession. Before processing or distributing any food in the future, the defendants must notify the FDA in advance, comply with specific remedial measures set forth in the injunction, and permit the FDA to inspect their facilities and procedures.
Senior Trial Attorney Arturo DeCastro of the Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch is handling the case with the assistance of Associate Chief Counsel Kyrsten L. Melander of the FDA’s Office of the General Counsel.
Additional information about the Consumer Protection Branch and its enforcement efforts may be found at http://www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch.
The claims resolved by the resolution announced today are only allegations. There has been no determination of liability.