FDA has issued a warning letter to a farm in Hawaii that grows and packages hearts of palm. The warning letter was a result of the farm’s lack of response to the FDA 4056 identifying violations observed during a January inspection. Observations of Produce Safety Rule (21 CFR 112) violations included:
- Water that contacted food contact surfaces and used for washing was not verified to meet the E. coli standard of non-detection in 100ml of water. Further, past results indicated that when E. coli was detected, there was no discontinuation of the contaminated water.
- Food contact surfaces were not cleaned and sanitized at an appropriate frequency to protect against contamination of produce.
- There was not sufficient documentation that a supervisor or other responsible person had successfully completed food safety training.
