Condensation dripping from ceiling joints over pesto pasta, quesadillas and couscous; ready-to-eat veggies just sitting, uncovered, on a prep table. Is this your worst food safety nightmare or a Whole Foods Market plant? It’s both, my friends. Both.
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The FDA just sent Whole Foods Market a warning letter about one of its plants. They have 15 days — a fortnight, if you will — to clean up their act or else “subject [their] firm and products to further actions, such as injunction or seizure.”
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An injunction means an order to stop doing something. So, they may have to stop all work at the plant, which if you ask me kind of should have happened already. This is a plant where listeria was found, so could someone please explain to me why it’s even still open?
I haven’t even told you about all the safety violations. There’s the condensation leaking all over everything; foods are left uncovered; workers aren’t washing their hands between tasks, and when they are, dirty water is splashing over what should be sanitary surfaces; employees are cleaning equipment the wrong way; hand sanitizer is going all over the place. I mean, you can read the list of safety violations — if you dare. It may put you off from buying pre-packaged foods anywhere for quite a while.
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Even though it’s so very shudder-inducing, I’m glad the FDA’s letter is out there for all to see. And I’m glad Whole Foods Market is being told to get its act together. But doesn’t this make you wonder what else is going on out there?
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