Federal Complain: Freshy Food Plant contaminated with Listeria Refuses to Recall Products

Federal and state inspectors have found two strains of Listeria in the Freshy Foods plant. One of the Listeria strains has persisted in the Elmwood facility since at least 2013. Listeria was also found in Freshy Foods sandwiches. The complaint filed in Federal court alleges Elmwood-based Freshy Foods LLC distributed food that was produced or held in unsanitary conditions. A year ago FDA asked the owners to voluntarily recall their food products, in light of the Listeria findings. The owners declined to do so, the complaint alleges. Freshy Foods co-owners Floyd D. James and Ida M. James, who serve as CEO and president of the company, respectively, also declined to cease operations pending further testing at the plant, according to the complaint. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed the accusations at the request of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, "to stop them from manufacturing and distributing adulterated food in violation of federal law." @ https://www.nola.com/business/index.ssf/2018/06/elmwood_business_refused_to_re.html