FDA releases inspection report on Listeria finding at Bidart Bros. packing plant
FDA releases inspection report on Listeria finding at Bidart Bros. packing plant
WASHINGTON — The Food & Drug Administration has released the 483 inspection report on the Bidart Bros. apple packing plant, where inspectors found Listeria monocytogenes on food contact surfaces, linking the facility to a Listeria outbreak tied to its caramel apples
Health officials believe the company’s apples caused at least 35 people to become infected with the pathogen that resulted in 34 hospitalizations and seven deaths.
In January, Bakersfield, CA-based Bidart Bros. recalled Granny Smith and Gala apples after environmental testing revealed the Listeria contamination at the apple-packing facility. FDA linked the environmental Listeria isolates to the outbreak strains.
Three other companies that carried the caramel apples issued recalls as well, and the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention announced that the outbreak, which started in October 2014, was over on Feb. 12.
On May 27, FDA released the 483 inspection report with details on the findings from the 110 environmental swabs collected on Dec. 23, 2014, during a four-day inspection of the Shafter, CA, packing facility. The samples were taken from food and non-food contact surfaces in the packaging area, common cold storage and bins stored outside.
FDA’s report said seven subsamples confirmed positive for Listeria were collected from the following areas: black polishing brush, red drying blushes, auto line machinery, main packing line drain between the north and sound flumes and the inside area of a non-painted Bidart wooden bin.
Six of the sites were direct food-contact surfaces, FDA said.
FDA investigators also “observed direct food-contact areas of packaging equipment, used during the 2014 apple season, constructed and/or maintained in a manner so that they cannot be properly cleaned and sanitized.”
In a Jan. 9 statement, Bidart Bros. said it had “met the USDA criteria for good agricultural practices and good handling practices in its apple plant. Yet, as a result of these latest findings, Bidart Bros. is reviewing all of their procedures to ensure that the product that leaves the facilities is safe.”
