December 28, 2016
FDA warning letters: Dairies and cheese factory cited
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Wisconsin and Utah dairy operations and a cheese factory in Pennsylvania received warning letters recently made public by the Food and Drug Administration.
The Philadelphia district office of the FDA sent a warning letter Sept. 2 to owner Milton Repsher describing “significant” food safety violations at the repacking and distribution operation, some of which have persisted since 2013. The labeling problems included failure to identify foods with “common” names, such as cheddar cheese labels that did not include the word “cheese.” Labels also did not include all of the ingredients and incorrectly identified some foods in specific violation of federal law.Problems served by inspectors at the operation from March 15 through April 5 included improperly labeled foods; employees’ failure to wash their hands; lack of a hand-washing facilities; broken and dirty equipment; rusty and improperly repaired equipment, floors, pipes and windows; and untrained employees.
Some of the food labels also failed to include the address of the business, as required by law. Inspectors also fund that some of the food was not being manufactured at the facility, but that fact was not reflected on the labeling.
“… where the food is not manufactured by the person whose name appears on the label, the name shall be qualified by a phrase that reveals the connection such person has with such food; such as ‘Manufactured for ___’, ‘Distributed by ___’, or any other wording that expresses the facts.”
Sanitation problems cited in the Sept. 2 warning letter to the owner of the LeRaysville Cheese Factory centered on hand washing violations and improper/inadequate building and equipment repairs.
“On March 25, 2016, you informed our investigators that the hand sanitizer was full; however, upon checking it was still inoperable. This is a repeat observation from the previous inspection of April 2013 and corrective action was promised during a Regulatory Meeting with your firm in July 2013,” according to the warning letter.
