Food Safety Constituent Update

Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition - Food and Drug Administration December 6, 2001

Table of Contents

U.S. v. Blue Ribbon Smoked Fish, Inc.

The Food and Drug Administration's food safety policy was upheld in U.S. v. Blue Ribbon Smoked Fish, Inc., et al., 01-CV-3887 (E.D.N.Y.). The case involved the contamination of food with Listeria Monocytogenes, a bacteria that poses serious health risks, and even death, for certain segments of the population, including the elderly and pregnant women.

On November 20, 2001, Judge Sifton granted FDA's motion for summary judgement to enjoin Blue Ribbon, a fish processor, from violating adulteration provisions of the Act. The court found that Blue Ribbon and three of its officers 1) had inadequate Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point ("HACCP") plans; 2) processed its fish products under insanitary conditions; and 3) introduced fish products contaminated with Listeria Monocytogenes (LM) into interstate commerce. The court also denied the individual defendants' motion to dismiss the complaint against them, relying upon earlier decisions from the Supreme Court which placed the responsibility for protecting the public health on individuals who had the opportunity to know about poor conditions at food processing companies, not consumers.

Rejecting Blue Ribbon's defense that new management had alleviated the insanitary conditions, the court focused instead on defendants' lengthy history of violations. The court also held that defendants' HACCP plans were facially inadequate.
Blue Ribbon challenged the adulteration charge based on the presence of LM in its fish products by arguing that LM is not an added substance and does not ordinarily present a risk to health because it affects only some segments of the population. In the alternative, Blue Ribbon argued that if the court found LM to be an added substance, the FDA's zero-tolerance policy violates provisions of the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act. The court rejected these arguments, finding that 1) LM is an added substance; 2) LM is "injurious to the health of significant populations of consumers;" and 3) the FDA is not required to set a tolerance level for LM. The court granted relief as requested by the government, recognizing that it was consonant with the legislative intent behind the Act: "[by| keeping contaminated fish processed under conditions of filth off consumer's tables, this permanent injunction will serve that important purpose."


Food Safety Staff Moves to College Park

The Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition has begun moving its offices and laboratories from Federal Building 8 located in Washington, D.C. to it's new facilities located in the Harvey W. Wiley Federal Building located in College Park, Maryland.

As part of the move of the Office of the Center Director, the Food Safety Staff will move the weekend of December 14, 2001. Effective December 17, 2001, all mail for employees of the Food Safety Staff should be sent to:

Food and Drug Administration
HFS-032
5100 Paint Branch Parkway
College Park, MD 20740-3835

New telephone and fax information:

Main Office Number: (301) 436-2428

FAX: (301) 436-2605

Food Safety Staff Employees:

Dr. Robert E. Brackett     Mr. Louis J. Carson
Dr. Eileen Parish     Mr. Heinz Wilms
Ms. Cynthia A. Hall     Ms. Irma V. Robison
Ms. Nikki Hargraves     Ms. Mary Ayling
Ms. Marion V. Allen     Ms. Camille Brewer
Ms. Bernice Friedlander     Dr. Marjorie Davidson
Mr. Howard Seltzer     Ms. Laura Fox



Food Safety Initiative Staff
E-mail: chall@cfsan.fda.gov 		Office Number: (202) 260-8920 · FAX (202) 260-9653
CFSAN Web site: http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/

 

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Hypertext updated by dav 2001-DEC-07