U.S. Marshals recently seized a mass amount of food products at a Ridgewood, N.Y. warehouse. The warehouse, run by V.I.P. Foods Inc., is responsible for manufacturing and shipping kosher food products such as KoJel.
The seizure came after the Food and Drug Administration inspectors found "unsanitary conditions throughout the facility" according to FDA.gov. This came after an initial investigation in October and warehouse operators said they had fixed the issue.
When they came back and searched the warehouse in early February 2013, investigators found nothing had changed. In response, the FDA seized various food products from the facility under a warrant issued by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York on April 12.
Some of the problems plaguing the facility were rodents, both dead and alive, rodent gnaw holes and rodent excreta pellets "in or near food products" according to the FDA. All of these issues are in violation of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act.
"V.I.P.'s warehouse was a picnic ground for rodents, and the company failed utterly in its obligation to provide food deemed safe for human consumption," said Loretta E. Lynch, the United States attorney for the Eastern District of New York, according to The New York Times.
The warehouse housed a number of products infected by rodents. Around $1 million of product was taken in the seizure.
"V.I.P. Foods housed various dried mixes and bases, such as chicken soup base, blueberry muffin mix and bread crumbs; and the conditions inside this warehouse were just deplorable," said the FDA;s acting Associate Commissioner for Regulatory Affairs, Melinda K. Plaisier. "We will continue to take aggressive action to protect public health."
"Some of V.I.P. Foods products are distributed under the name VIP Foods Inc., VIP, V.I.P., or KoJel, but V.I.P. Foods distributes other products under private label," reads the press release distributed by FDA.gov.
No illnesses have been reported as of yet according to the statement, but if you believe you have been affected you can email caers@fda.hhs.gov or call (240) 402-2405.
