Sunday
May222011
Sun, May 22, 2011 | by Lisa Barger Brunkow Cheese Raided--"Rodent Infestation"
Friday the FDA announced that it, with the assistance of the U.S. Marshals, had raided Brunkow Cheese of Darlington, Wisconsin after the company failed to properly remedy what the agency characterized as a “rodent contamination problem” resulting in “adulterated” cheese foods.
In a press release dated May 20th the agency explains that it conducted an inspection of Brunkow’s manufacturing plant back in February and found numerous violations of food safety laws, including a rodent infestation. Inspectors went back in April and found what while Brunkow’s had addressed some of the problems noted in the February inspection the plant still had a “rodent contamination problem”. So on May 13th the agency officially requested the assistance of the U.S. Marshals to raid the company and seize the “adulterated” cheese products. That raid and seizure was carried out on May 17th and 18th.
Other details of this story are scant. We can’t, for example, find any warning letters issued to Brunkow’s, although it’s possible that those just haven’t been made available to the public yet. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s story on the raid offered no new details, either. It did, however, include a quote from the company’s spokesperson, Joe Burns, “We stand by the safety of our product, but we also are cooperating fully with authorities.”
Brunkow Cheese’s Facebook page has not been updated since May 3, 2011 and contains—at least as far as we can tell—no mention of the inspections or raid.
No recall of Brunkow Cheese has been announced.
Sources:
FDA. (2011). United States requests seizure of adulterated cheese products at Wisconsin company. (PRESS RELEASE). Accessible at fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm256204.htm.
Herzog, K. (2011). U.S. marshals seize cheese products from Darlington firm. Accessible at jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/122364459.html.
In a press release dated May 20th the agency explains that it conducted an inspection of Brunkow’s manufacturing plant back in February and found numerous violations of food safety laws, including a rodent infestation. Inspectors went back in April and found what while Brunkow’s had addressed some of the problems noted in the February inspection the plant still had a “rodent contamination problem”. So on May 13th the agency officially requested the assistance of the U.S. Marshals to raid the company and seize the “adulterated” cheese products. That raid and seizure was carried out on May 17th and 18th.
Other details of this story are scant. We can’t, for example, find any warning letters issued to Brunkow’s, although it’s possible that those just haven’t been made available to the public yet. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s story on the raid offered no new details, either. It did, however, include a quote from the company’s spokesperson, Joe Burns, “We stand by the safety of our product, but we also are cooperating fully with authorities.”
Brunkow Cheese’s Facebook page has not been updated since May 3, 2011 and contains—at least as far as we can tell—no mention of the inspections or raid.
No recall of Brunkow Cheese has been announced.
Sources:
FDA. (2011). United States requests seizure of adulterated cheese products at Wisconsin company. (PRESS RELEASE). Accessible at fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm256204.htm.
Herzog, K. (2011). U.S. marshals seize cheese products from Darlington firm. Accessible at jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/122364459.html.