Food Borne Illness Risk Uncovered at Meyer Food Service Plant

Food borne illnesses can be traced to manufacturing plants that do not meet regulations for safety. Red flags went up for the risk of a food borne illness at Meyer’s Seafood Processing Facility recently. In October of 2009, inspectors uncovered violations of the seafood Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) regulation, Title 21, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 123 (21 CFR 123).

The Wisconsin based seafood plant has received a warning letter because of several failures to meet regulations including:

• Meyer’s vacuum-packed cold-smoked salmon, bonito, mahi-mahi, tuna, wahoo, mackerel, jobfish, jack or crevalle, trevally, escolar, clams, cockles, mussels, oysters, scallops, and air packed, hot-smoked salmon have been deemed adulterated because they have been prepared, packed, or held in unsanitary conditions and rendered injurious to health.

• Safety hazards of Clostridium botulinum growth and toxin formation are not controlled through a HACCP plan for vacuum-packed cold-smoked salmon.

• HACCP plans for the hot smoked fish list, clams, cockles, mussels, oysters, scallops are inadequate to control pathogen growth and toxic formation.

• Clostridium botulinum is bacteria that can be poisonous to the cells. The bacteria can lead to Botulism which is a life threatening medical condition. Botulism involves paralysis that may begin with facial muscles and progress to the limbs and breathing muscles at which point can lead to respiratory failure.

If you or a loved on has been seriously injured because of a food borne illness, contact Burton Padove for a free consultation at 219-836-2200.