The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has demanded Whole Foods Market Inc.
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Whole Foods Market North Atlantic Kitchen, based in Everett, Massachusetts, supplies prepared foods and other products to Whole Foods stores located in Massachusetts, Maine, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York and New Jersey.
A ceiling in the facility was dripping condensate onto an area that was mixed with a ready-to-eat pasta product that Whole Foods makes. Some types of Listeria can be fatal to pregnant women and people with weakened immune systems, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The letter Whole Foods received was written on June 8, and the store has 15 working days to respond with the steps it’s taking to fix the problems. The agency said a prior company response from March wasn’t adequate because it failed to indicate that employee training would “ensure sustained compliance”.
During five inspections between February 10 and 26, inspectors found food products that were prepared, packed, or held under insanitary conditions, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said in a warning letter dated June 8 and posted on its website.
There are several more violations listed.
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Whole Foods Market Inc. has until the end of June to remedy “serious violations” discovered by federal regulators during a February inspection of a MA plant that supplies ready-to-eat products across the Northeast. Another employee’s unprotected upper sleeves were frequently touching ready-to-eat leafy salad greens as leafy salad greens were packaged into retail packs.
