MONROE — Federal officials filed a complaint Wednesday with the aim of stopping a Monroe seafood processor from selling contaminated products in violation of federal law.
Felix Custom Smoking manufactures seafood products like jerky and smoked salmon, according to court documents. Customers usually pick up their orders at the store on 147th Street SE, because the seafood isn’t sold online. Products have also been shipped to buyers in Colorado and Idaho. Felix processes fish from Alaska.
Most of the company’s business is reportedly for private companies that then distribute the products. The products are also sold at farmers’ markets, and anglers have also used the business to process, package and label their catch.
Inspections have shown a history of processing the seafood in unsanitary conditions with an infestation of flies, according to the civil complaint filed in federal court in Seattle Wednesday. In 2021, for example, federal inspectors collected 104 samples from surfaces at Felix Custom Smoking. Listeria mono was reportedly found in 19 of those samples. Two of those were on surfaces where the company processes ready-to-eat seafood. Five were on surfaces that food touches.
This harmful bacteria can cause diarrhea and vomiting in otherwise healthy people. More vulnerable consumers — such as pregnant women, the elderly and people with compromised immune systems — could be at greater risk.
“The presence of such a strain is evidence of a seafood processor who has failed to maintain a clean facility and has created an ideal environment for dangerous pathogens to contaminate her seafood products,” the complaint reads.
A 2018 inspection also found food safety violations at the Monroe facility, according to court documents.
The company’s owner, Diane Zollinger, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Last August, a wholesale customer from Seattle conducted its own test of cold smoked salmon lox bought from Felix Custom Smoking, according to court papers. It confirmed the presence of the same strain of Listeria mono.
Shortly afterward, the federal Food and Drug Administration alerted consumers about the Monroe company, saying “not to eat any of Felix’s products or products processed by Felix” and to throw them out due to possible contamination. It also told wholesalers not to sell any more Felix seafood.
The FDA reported it had notified the company of its findings, but the owner had “declined to initiate a recall of its products and is still processing seafood at this time.”
The federal government is now seeking an injunction requiring Zollinger to remove the bacteria from her facility, improve sanitation procedures and comply with federal regulations before processing or distributing any more seafood.
Jake Goldstein-Street: 425-339-3439; jake.goldstein-street@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @GoldsteinStreet.
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