FDA Targets Fish Wholesaler For Bacteria Contaminated Tunaff

Federal regulators said last week they have asked a federal judge to shut down a small business in Pacific Beach that sells fresh seafood to restaurants, hotels and upscale markets.

In a lawsuit filed Tuesday in San Diego federal court, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it found bacteria-contaminated fish and unsanitary conditions at Pacific Shellfish Inc. The government is seeking a permanent injunction against the company and its president, Judd J. Brown, until they correct the deficiencies cited by the FDA.

Brown, the owner, said in an interview that the case is based on the government's mistaken assumption that he sells “ready-to-eat” fish and seafood products intended for raw consumption.

“I don't sell fish for raw consumption,” Brown said. “We run a very honest, legitimate and clean operation.”

Brown’s business also sells fish over the counter at The Fishery, a restaurant and market that Brown operates with his wife. The Fishery is co-located with the wholesale-seafood-processing center on Cass Street.

During an inspection in April, the FDA found the presence of Listeria monocytogenes, a disease-causing bacteria, on samples of raw albacore tuna and halibut at the Cass Street facility, according to the suit.

Listeria can cause listeriosis, a disease that can be serious and even fatal for people in certain high-risk groups, such as unborn babies, newborns and those with impaired immune systems.

About 2,500 people become seriously ill with listeriosis in the United States each year, and about 500 die. An outbreak that killed at least 40 and sickened more than 60 in 1985 was linked to a suburban Los Angeles company that made Mexican-style soft cheese.

Federal guidelines provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say that thoroughly cooking raw food can help prevent listeriosis and other food-borne illnesses.

“Even if fish is intended to be cooked,” a FDA statement said last week, “adequate sanitation is needed to prevent the spread of this strain of Listeria throughout the distribution system to restaurants and consumer homes…”

Brown, who invited a reporter to tour the facility, said he has paid private laboratories for three independent inspections of the facility since the FDA’s four-day inspection last April.

No bacteria of any kind was found, said Brown, who produced letters from a Commerce, Calif., laboratory that performed inspections in November and June. A written report has not yet been prepared for the most recent inspection, which was done Monday and Tuesday, Brown said.

“This issue with the FDA has been blown out of proportion,” he said.

He said he has been in negotiations with the FDA to resolve the matter, but Brown said he could not agree to the terms of a consent agreement offered by the agency. Brown said he rejected the agreement, at least in part, because the FDA has maintained incorrectly that he sells fish for raw consumption.

“Why would I subject myself to such a situation when I am a small businessman and they're taking such a Draconian approach to this?” Brown asked.

The FDA cultured the Listeria bacteria recovered from the fish and other samples taken during the inspection last April, according to the government suit. A laboratory analysis by the FDA showed it was “indistinguishable” from Listeria found in a previous inspection of the Cass Street facility in June 2004.

The civil complaint alleges that FDA inspectors also observed “filth buildup” on food contact surfaces, a soiled ice bin, and hoses used in the seafood production process left in direct contact with the floor.

The Listeria bacteria was also detected on a table used to fillet halibut and tuna, on a cloth glove worn by an employee who processed the fish, on the handle of a hose directly over a table used to fillet fish and a floor drain in the facility's processing area.

Other inspections dating to 2001 have documented similar “persistent” insanitary conditions at the facility, according to the FDA.

Among other things, employees failed to wash their hands “when appropriate” – nor did the hand-washing facilities have soap, according to the complaint.

The suit alleges that raw oysters were stored over “ready-to-eat product,” cardboard boxes containing fresh fish were left on wet floors, and raw seafood was handled on the same table, using with same knife and gloves, as ready-to-eat products without cleaning and sanitizing the table or utensils.