DOJ Seeks to Stop Firm from Importing Uneviscerated & Other Fish
The Food and Drug Administration, in a complaint filed by the Department of Justice, is seeking a permanent injunction against BCS African Wholesale Food Supply LLC (BCS African Wholesale) of Brooklyn Park, Minnesota and its principal officers. If granted, the injunction would force the defendants to stop importing, processing, and selling seafood products that can put consumers at risk for botulism or that may present other food safety hazards.
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Defendants Receive Seafood from China, Ivory Coast, Brazil, Etc.
The defendants receive their seafood products from outside Minnesota, including tilapia directly imported from China, bony fish shipped to defendants from New York and originating in the Ivory Coast, and croaker shipped to defendants from New Jersey and Florida and originating in Brazil, Uruguay, Guyana, and Argentina. The defendants sell their seafood products to consumers from their retail store and process and distribute other seafood products wholesale.
Complaint Says Seafood Prepared or Held Under Insanitary Conditions
The complaint alleges that the company and its officers, Stanley Jide, Adebayo Mafe, and Charles Chiefredo, market and distribute seafood products that are prepared, packed, or held under insanitary conditions under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.
FDA Says Larger Uneviscerated Fish May Contain Toxin, Fish is Misbranded
The FDA considers uneviscerated fish over 5 inches in length that are salt-cured, dried, or smoked, such as the bony fish sold by BCS African Wholesale, to be adulterated because they could contain Clostridium botulinum toxin. The toxin cannot be removed by cooking or freezing. Smaller uneviscerated fish (those 5 or fewer inches long) can be salt-cured, dried, or smoked in a manner that prevents the toxin formation.
FDA says that BCS African Wholesale’s bony fish, which are falsely labeled “Gutted Bony Fish,” are also misbranded under the Act. FDA says the defendants’ fish are also adulterated because the firm failed to comply with the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) regulations.
FDA Issued Warning Letter, but BCS Did Not Comply
The FDA sent BCS African Wholesale a warning letter on July 20, 2010, after FDA and the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) inspected the company’s facility. In response to the warning letter, the defendants assured FDA that they were no longer selling uneviscerated fish.
FDA and MDA jointly inspected the facility two months later and found that the defendants were still selling adulterated seafood, including uneviscerated bony fish that were also misbranded. After the inspections, MDA embargoed the potentially dangerous fish at BCS African Wholesale to prevent their distribution to the public.
The complaint was filed on May 31, 2011, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota.