Photo Courtesy of Google
Foo Yuan Food Products Company, Inc. is located on Borden Avenue and 23rd Street.
By Forum Staff
The United States has filed a civil complaint in federal court in Brooklyn against Foo Yuan Food Products Company, Inc. of Long Island City, its owner and President Hsing Chang, and its Secretary Susan Chang, seeking to permanently stop them from preparing and distributing adulterated seafood products in violation of federal law, Department of Justice officials announced on Monday.
According to the complaint, Foo Yuan prepare, pack, hold and distribute refrigerated and frozen ready-to-eat fish balls, fried fish cakes and fried fish balls. The U.S. alleges that Foo Yuan failed to adequately control the risk of Clostridium botulinum and Listeria monocytogenes (L. mono.) growth and toxin formation in susceptible fish and fishery products.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration inspected Foo Yuan’s Borden Avenue facility in 2014, 2016 and from December 2017 to January 2018. According to the complaint, at each inspection, the FDA documented significant deficiencies. For example, during the most recent inspection, FDA observed a failure to maintain the cleanliness of food contact sources, and a failure to ensure that all persons working in direct contact with food, food contact surfaces and food-packing materials conformed to hygienic practices to protect against food contamination.
The complaint alleges that Foo Yuan violated the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act by causing adulterated food to be introduced into interstate commerce or delivered for introduction into interstate commerce. It also alleges that Foo Yuan further violated the law by causing food to become adulterated while it was being held for sale after the shipment of one or more of its components in interstate commerce.
“When food processors ignore federal laws concerning the preparation of food, they subject the public to serious health risks,” said Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Richard Donoghue. “The Department of Justice has asked the court to stop the defendants from processing, packaging or distributing any more food until they establish that they can comply with federal laws and regulations designed to avert those health risks.”
