Rodent dung on chocolates, soup and other foods at a Broward wholesaler’s Hialeah location
A Plantation company that sells food to grocery stores had more rodent poop at its Hialeah warehouse than proper FDA registration, a state inspector found this week.
And, that rodent droppings at Newport Wholesalers’ warehouse caused Florida Department of Agriculture Inspector Zuliema Chow to drop Stop Sale and Stop Use Orders all over the facility, which hadn’t been inspected since August 2021.
At that inspection, the Ag Department classified Newport as a “Major Food Distributor.” State corporate records say the company, which is run by President and CEO Howard Lewis, registered with the state in 1992.
READ MORE: 35 roaches on a counter. Rodents getting into pasta, onto Twinkies and Oreos.
Newport’s website says, “If you see it in the grocery store and it’s not a private label, you’ll see it in our warehouse.” Indeed, some familiar brand names showed up on Monday’s inspection getting hit with Stop Sales after getting hit with rodent regularity.
▪ “Observed inside the temperature-controlled room, where pre-packaged chocolates are stored, excessive amount of rodent excreta on top of palletized, opened wrap, SnoCaps Semi-Sweet Chocolate Nonpareils.”
Chow rained Stop Sales on 300 15-pack cases of the chocolates and dropped a Stop Use Order on the temperature-controlled room.
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▪ “Inside the dry storage warehouse, Inspector Chow saw an “excessive amount of rodent excreta on top of opened, palletized” Crisco All-Vegetable Shortening along the wall on the east side of dry storage; Libby’s 100% Pure Pumpkin, stored on the north side; and Progresso Chicken & Wild Rice soup on the west side of the warehouse.”
Stop Sales hit 240 24-can cases of Libby’s Pure Pumpkin, 32 cases 19-ounce cans of the Progresso soup; and 68 cases of 4-pound cans of Crisco. Stop Use Orders took the north, east and west sides of the dry storage warehouse out of action.
READ MORE: Inspection problems at Latin American Bakery
▪ Chow also saw “bay doors with gaps underneath that lead to the food storage area” that could allow vermin inside. “Furthermore, the bay doors on the east side of the establishment were fully open during the inspection with no food products incoming or outgoing.”
▪ Also, “there are multiple holes in the walls by the baseboard located on the east side of the dry storage area where food products are stored.”
▪ One of the pallets of Crisco had “cans leaking onto its plastic wrapped cardboard trays.”
▪ A sewage backup turns into a real problem because there was “a hose attached to a hose bibb located on the east side of the building by the bay doors without a backflow prevention.”
▪ And, finally, this “food establishment has not registered as a food facility with the FDA.”
