FDA seizes chili products from 'rodent-infested' facility
The supply of all FDA-regulated products at Duran and Sons’ warehouse in Derry, New Mexico had already been put on embargo by the New Mexico Environment Department on November 17. Affected products include chili pods, ground chili, crushed chili, and other chili products, which have now been confiscated due to unsanitary conditions at the plant, meaning that the products could have become “contaminated with filth”, the FDA said. The chili products were seized after the FDA sought a court order to allow it to do so.
The FDA’s associate commissioner for regulatory affairs Dara A. Corrigan said: “The alleged violations at this facility are serious and widespread. This prompted the FDA to take aggressive enforcement action to protect the health of consumers.”
FDA inspectors, who carried out an investigation of the facility from November 15 to 22, said they found rodent nesting material and droppings on and around food, containers of food that had been gnawed by rodents, and “stains indicative of rodent urine.”
They also reported seeing a live cat, live birds, bird nesting, bird droppings, and feces and urine from other animals, as well as live and dead insects, and insect larvae throughout the warehouse. The FDA said that these observations had been confirmed later by laboratory analysis of samples collected during the inspection.
