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FDA Closes Smoked Seafood Processor, Demands Recall

Failure to follow consent decree drives action

May 19, 2008

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The Food and Drug Administration has directed Hope Food Supply Inc. to shut down and immediately recall all products manufactured from its Texas facility since 2007.

The Pasadena, Texas, food processing company, under a different name, had manufactured dried smoked catfish steaks and other smoked seafood products and was subject to a consent decree of permanent injunction requiring it to develop and implement an adequate Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) plan for its fish and fishery products. Hope Food had not developed this plan, the FDA said.

"We simply will not allow a company to put the public's health at risk by not implementing adequate procedures and plans to produce safe food," said Margaret Glavin, associate commissioner for regulatory affairs.

The FDA's HACCP regulations require that all seafood processors develop and implement adequate plans that identify all food safety hazards that are likely to occur for each kind of seafood product that they process, and set forth preventative measures to control those hazards.

The HACCP violations documented by the FDA pose a public health hazard because, without adequate controls, Hope Food's seafood products could harbor pathogenic bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus and Listeria monocytogenes. Food products with these kinds of pathogens can cause serious illnesses in people who eat them.

The company's products have been distributed nationwide. The FDA is advising consumers who bought smoked seafood products to check with the place of purchase to determine if the products came from Hope Foods. If so, consumers should throw the products out.

Consumers who have been eating Hope Seafood Supply's dried smoked catfish or other smoked seafood products and have experienced adverse reactions should consult their health care professional.

Consumers and health care professionals can also report adverse events to the FDA consumer complaint coordinator in their geographic area. Contact numbers may be found online.

For more information, consumers can call the FDA's toll-free Food Safety Hotline at 1-888-SAFEFOOD.

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