FDA Warns of Unsafe Conditions at Tyson Foods Soup Plant
The Food and Drug Administration has warned Tyson Foods Inc. about improper storage of food at the company’s seafood soup manufacturing facility which posed a risk of food poisoning to consumers, the agency said Tuesday.
FDA inspectors who visited the Fort Worth, Texas plant in August found shrimp and crab meat that was left out to thaw for 18 hours at between 40 to 50 degrees Fahrenheit. The meat was being stored for later use in the company’s Seafood Gumbo, the agency said in its Nov. 13 letter to the company, according to a CNN news report.
At that temperature, the growth of bacteria that can cause food poisons is a “reasonably likely hazard,” the FDA concluded. The agency recommends that food products be refrigerated at or below 40 degrees Fahrenheit to prevent bacteria from forming.
“Pathogen growth and potential toxin formulation is a hazard reasonably likely to occur in the absence of control,” the FDA said.
Foodborne Bacteria Causes Food Poisoning
Salmonella, E. coli, and other types of foodborne bacteria are leading causes of potentially fatal food poisoning, which accounts for millions of illness, thousands of hospitalizations, and hundreds of deaths in the United States each year. While most healthy individuals recover from a bout of food poisoning with mild to moderate symptoms including abdominal pain, vomiting, and diarrhea that may be bloody, the elderly and frail, young children, and those with weakened immune systems are at increased risks of fatal complications.
It is unclear how many, if any, cases of food poisoning can be traced back to Tyson’s improper storage of shrimp and crab meat.
Tyson has told the FDA that after the inspection, it threw out all the crab meat and shrimp products inspectors noted during the inspection, according to the FDA. The food company also told FDA authorities that it has implemented a new standard operating procedure for thawing products, CNN reports.
Tyson had 15 business days from the FDA warning letter to respond to the agency with how it plans to correct the violations.
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