How pork made at a home, fake inspection stamps and Miami’s Rubell Museum are connected

David J. Neal
·2 min read
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About 21,105 pounds of sausage carrying fake USDA inspection stamps and claiming to be distributed for a dissolved Miami company have been recalled from five states.

The inspection stamps and Miami company DS & N International, which used the address now occupied by the Rubell Museum, were on 14-ounce tubs of Chorizo Olanchano.

Or, rather, the 14-ounce tubs that actually had labels — some didn’t — all contained chorizo made, according to the USDA recall notice, “at the owner’s home.”

Del Valle’s Chorizo Olanchano with no labels.
Del Valle’s Chorizo Olanchano with no labels.

The official reason for the recall stems from the USDA flagging it for being produced outside of federal inspection. So, Kenner, Louisiana’s Del Valle Import and Export LLC had to yank the Mezcla de chorizo Centroamericano or Centroamerican Brand Chorizo Mix from retail stores spanning Florida, Texas, Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana.

If you have the mix, return it to the store where you bought it for a full refund or risk that “the owner” keeps a clean kitchen.

READ MORE: Food not inspected recalled from Florida restaurants and stores

Who made the chorizo?

The recall notice directs media with questions to email Del Valle or call the company’s head of communications. The email hasn’t been answered and the phone number led to a full voice mail.

State of Louisiana corporate records show Del Valle’s manager and registered agent is Soraya Ivette Carrasco Hawith. Dun and Bradstreet’s corporate listing for Del Valle says the “key principal” is Denis R. Bautista Carrasco.

Denis Bautista and Soraya Carrasco Hawith of Kenner, Louisiana, are the two managing names on the state of Florida registry for DS & N International, the Miami company on the label of the chorizo.

The Chorizo Olanchano label with the fake USDA inspection label on the lower left and the long-dissolved Miami business in the lower right.
The Chorizo Olanchano label with the fake USDA inspection label on the lower left and the long-dissolved Miami business in the lower right.

DS & N was registered in December 2014 and dissolved in September 2015 after they registered Del Valle Import & Export #2. Both used the address 1100 NW 23rd St., where the Rubell Museum would move in December 2019.

The phone number on the chorizo tub label for DS & N has been disconnected. A message has been left for Bautista on a personal cell phone. No phone number could be found for Carrasco.