Fish Cove, Inc.

Department of Health and Human Services	Public Health Service Food and Drug Administration
	New York District  158-15 Liberty Avenue Jamaica, NY 11433

 

                                                                                                                                                                                             

November 8, 2010

 

WARNING LETTER NYK-2011-7

 

 

Via United Parcel Service

 

Joseph M. Falcone, Owner

Fish Cove, Inc.

1802 Teall Avenue

Syracuse, New York 13206

 

Dear Mr. Falcone:

 

We inspected your seafood processing facility, located at 1802 Teall Avenue, Syracuse, New York between July 13 and 21, 2010.  We found that you have serious violations of the seafood Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) regulation, Title 21, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 123 (21 CFR 123). In accordance with 21 CFR 123.6(g), failure of a processor of fish or fishery products to have and implement a HACCP plan that complies with this section or otherwise operate in accordance with the requirements of Part 123, renders the fish or fishery products adulterated within the meaning of section 402(a)(4) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (the Act), 21 U.S.C. § 342(a)(4). Accordingly, your breaded haddock are adulterated, in that they have been prepared, packed, or held under insanitary conditions whereby they may have been rendered injurious to health. You may find the Act, the seafood HACCP regulation, and the Fish and Fisheries Products Hazards & Controls Guidance through links in FDA's home page at www.fda.gov.

 

Your significant HACCP violations were as follows:

 

1) You must conduct or have conducted for you a hazard analysis for each kind of fish and fishery product that you produce to determine whether there are food safety hazards that are reasonably likely to occur and have a HACCP plan that, at a minimum, lists the food safety hazards that are reasonably likely to occur, to comply with 21 CFR 123.6 (a) and (c) (1). A food safety hazard is defined in 21 CFR 123.3 (f) as "any biological, chemical, or physical property that may cause a food to be unsafe for human consumption." However, your firm’s HACCP plan for breaded haddock does not list the food safety hazard of allergenic substances. Please refer to Chapter 19 of the Fish and Fisheries Products Hazards and Controls Guidance: Third Edition for additional information concerning the hazard of allergens. Once you have identified the allergenic substances associated with your products, we suggest conveying the presence of those substances via some form of labeling on the outside of your packages/containers to indicate the presence of the allergenic substances, or via a brochure accompanying the packages/containers or through an equivalent mechanism.

 

2) You must conduct a hazard analysis to determine whether there are food safety hazards that are reasonably likely to occur and have a HACCP plan that, at a minimum, lists the critical control points, to comply with 21 CFR 123.6 (a) and (c) (2). A critical control point is defined in 21 CFR 123.3 (b) as a “point, step, or procedure in a food process at which control can be applied and a food safety hazard can as a result be prevented, eliminated, or reduced to acceptable levels.” However, your firm’s HACCP plan for breaded haddock does not list the critical control point of refrigerated storage for controlling the food safety hazard of Staphylococcus aureus toxin formation.

 

In addition, the Food and Drug Administration has determined that your facility is subject to the registration requirement in Section 415 of the Act (21 U.S.C. § 350d) and our implementing regulation at 21 CFR Part 1, Subpart H. The failure to register a facility as required is a prohibited act under Section 301(dd) of the Act (21 U.S.C. § 331(dd)). Our records indicate that, to date, your facility has not been registered with FDA.

 

The owner, operator, or agent in charge of your facility, or an individual authorized by your facility's owner, operator, or agent in charge, should register the facility with FDA immediately. Registration may be accomplished on-line at http://www.access.fda.gov. We strongly encourage the use of electronic registration because it will result in an automatic confirmation of registration and automatic issuance of a registration number.

 

Alternatively, the owner, operator, or agent in charge of this facility, or an individual authorized by the facility's owner, operator, or agent in charge, may register the facility by mail or fax (e.g., if you do not have reasonable access to the Internet) using FDA's food facility registration form, Form 3537. Form 3537 has been attached to this letter for your convenience. This form may be obtained by calling the FDA Industry Systems Help Desk at 1-800-216-7331 or 301-575-0156, or by writing to the agency at the following address:

 

U.S. Food and Drug Administration, HFS-681
5600 Fishers Lane
Rockville, MD 20857

 

When completed, the form may be faxed to (301) 210-0247 or mailed to the address above. FDA will process registrations submitted by mail or fax and provide a facility's registration number using the same method used to submit the registration to FDA.

 

We may take further action if you do not promptly correct these violations. For instance, we may take further action to seize your product(s) and/or enjoin your firm from operating.

 

You should respond in writing within fifteen (15) working days from your receipt of this letter. Your response should outline the specific things you are doing to correct these violations. You should include in your response documentation such as HACCP and verification records, or other useful information that would assist us in evaluating your corrections. If you cannot complete all corrections before you respond, you should explain the reason for your delay and state when you will correct any remaining violations.

This letter may not list all the violations at your facility. You are responsible for ensuring that your processing plant operates in compliance with the Act, the seafood HACCP regulation (21 CFR Part 123), the Current Good Manufacturing Practice regulation (21 CFR Part 110), and Food Labeling regulation (21 CFR Part 101). You also have a responsibility to use procedures to prevent further violations of the Act and all applicable regulations.

 

Your written response should be sent to Dean R. Rugnetta, Compliance Officer, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 300 Pearl Street, Suite 100, Buffalo, New York 14202. If you have any questions about this letter, please contact Compliance Officer Dean Rugnetta at (716) 541-0324 or Email at dean.rugnetta@fda.hhs.gov.

 

 

Sincerely,

/S/

Ronald M. Pace

District Director

New York District

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