Fault found in baby-food plant: Factory founder made
improvements at Sanger site after state's criticism
Source of Article: http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/news/Stock%20News/2014222/ Tue. November 11, 2008; Posted: 12:07 PM Nov 11, 2008 (The State health inspectors have issued a report that
criticizes a local organic baby-food processing plant for having an
unsanitary kitchen and failing to take "effective measures" to make
sure broken glass does not get into its products but found that allegations
of food-safety violations by two former top managers were not substantiated. The report comes after a two-month investigation into Sanger-based
Initiative Foods by the California Department of Public Health. Jocelyn Mailly, the former quality
manager and plant manager, and John Mulvaney Jr., a
company co-founder and former vice president of operations, filed lawsuits in
Fresno County Superior Court last spring saying they were fired for raising
food-safety concerns. In a deposition in April, Mailly
said that John Ypma, the company's founder and
president, approved the use of moldy sweet potatoes that were full of maggots
and failed to make repairs to a machine that left pieces of glass in baby
food. Initiative Foods sells its baby food at Vons, Safeway, Whole
Foods and other stores. The department's report concluded that there was not enough
evidence to substantiate the allegations in the lawsuits. Neither Mailly nor Mulvaney was interviewed as part of the department's
investigation. But the department issued five violation notices, including
one that said the company has "failed to take effective measures to
protect against the inclusion of extraneous material in food" --
specifically, broken pieces of glass. Ypma has denied ever using rotten
products. He said he has taken steps to ensure that glass does not get into
food. "The health and safety of the babies and moms who use
our products are our highest priority -- bar none," he said Monday.
"Our processing standards are the highest in the industry." But Ypma said he will take the
department's report seriously. He said his company already has made
improvements in response to the report, including changing how it responds
when glass jars break on the production line. The violations issued by the department are essentially
warnings and the company will not be penalized, department spokesman Ralph
Montano said. In 2006, a Texas-based grocery chain was forced to recall
thousands of cases of Initiative Foods' baby food after receiving complaints
from customers who found glass in their baby food. Mailly said she had tried to warn Ypma that the machine the company used at the time to
clean empty glass jars was malfunctioning and that pieces of glass could end
up in jars that were later filled with baby food. Ypma said the recall was an
isolated incident. He made repairs to many of the plant's machines after the
recall. The department's report also noted "an abundance of
product spillage" in kitchen areas. Ypma said his company will do a
better job of keeping the kitchen clean. Finally, the report said that water was allowed to pool on
the floor in some parts of the plant, "which may contribute to the
contamination of [the] product due to possible foot-borne filth." Ypma said he would make any needed
repairs. |
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