An inspection report released to CBS News in response to a Freedom of Information Act request detailed violations found during an inspection of a Colorado food production facility operated by Taylor Farms.
Their findings are similar to the FDA issuing a so-called Form 483 to a McDonald’s supplier, a list of references to conditions that inspectors are concerned may be “injurious to health.”
The facility was tasked with supplying “sliced onions” to McDonald’s restaurants across the states. Taylor Farms also produces a number of other products, including salads that are sold in grocery stores as preserved and ready-to-eat.
For restaurants, Taylor Farms Bills its products. As a “minimum kitchen solution,” it allows food service workers to skip the routine preparation steps they need to use with normal produce that must be washed and cut before eating. .
“We hold our suppliers to the highest food safety expectations and standards. Prior to this inspection, and unrelated to its findings, McDonald’s ceased sourcing from Taylor Farms’ Colorado Springs facility,” McDonald’s said in a statement. I said.
The company pointed to its Oct. Announcement After the outbreak, it said it would “indefinitely” stop buying onions from Taylor Farms in Colorado, suppliers to about 900 restaurants that depended on the plant.
“Taylor Farms is confident in our best-in-class food safety processes, and as a result, the quality and safety of our products. As is common after an inspection, the FDA issued observations of conditions that may have occurred at one of our facilities. It can be improved,” Taylor Farms said in a statement.
The statement said the company “took immediate steps” to address the issues, adding that the FDA Classification The inspection did not result in “administrative or regulatory action” against the company.
“This is consistent with the fact that there is no disease or public health risk associated with these observations,” Taylor Farms said.
Taylor Farms eventually called back Thousands of cases of ready-to-eat onions he distributed to food service facilities in six states after the outbreak.
At least 104 cases of E. coli infection were linked to it. spreadincluding 34 hospitalizations and one death, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“Should have been marked as a ‘fail'”
FDA inspectors said they discovered “multiple devices with apparent biofilm and food debris” around the Taylor Farms facility in Colorado Springs, even after workers completed their required cleaning procedures. had done
The FDA said quality control officials at Taylor Farms had signed off on the facility’s cleanliness in passing, even as agency inspectors said they could still see “multiple levels of food contact that were not visually detectable.” were not clean enough and should have been marked as ‘fail’.”
Food debris on the company’s equipment was so bad it was causing contamination, FDA inspectors were worried. A company that was buying green peppers from Taylor Farms complained that onions had found their way into their ready-to-eat products.
FDA inspectors alleged that workers were also cutting corners on necessary cleaning measures for themselves.
McDonald’s supplier staff only “sometimes” use hand sanitizer when handling food that should be ready-to-eat or “RTE” as the industry calls it, on their gloved hands.
“Production employees handling RTE produce and food contact surfaces were not observed using any hand-washing sinks in the facility,” FDA inspectors wrote.
“The stuff is constantly wet.”
FDA inspectors also discovered that Taylor Farms was repeatedly skipping the drying step after dousing tools in a solution of disinfectant chemicals, which inspectors feared could have contaminated the ready-to-eat produce. being “applied directly” to
“The wet processing environment and cold temperatures keep the equipment constantly wet,” the agency’s inspectors wrote.
The FDA said that the manufacturer’s instructions for the cleaning solution urged consumers to air-dry the cleaned containers.
FDA officials were also concerned about how staff were cooking the cleaning chemicals they were using.
Some solutions tested above the maximum concentration of chemicals allowed, while the company is not sure how it came up with another cleaning compound that was used by FDA inspectors. .
“Management was unable to provide manufacturer labels and/or manufacturers/chemical representatives with claims that the mixture of chemicals listed above was designed for this use,” inspectors said.