Whole Foods Warned By FDA About Its Grimy Facility

(RTTNews) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has demanded Whole Foods Market Inc. (WFM) management to resolve unsanitary conditions found at its plant in Everett, Massachusetts where an inspection revealed serious violations of food-safety regulations.

FDA says it found severe food-safety violations during its inspections in February.

The FDA says it found ready-to-eat pesto pasta and mushrooms quesadillas being prepared directly under an area in the assembly room where condensate from ceiling joints was dripping onto the surface below.

The agency's inspectors saw one of the employees cutting chives and beets on a work surface directly underneath a leaking condensate drainage pipe in the Veg Prep Room, while one employee was observed assembling bulk cartons while also packaging exposed ready to eat quinoa cakes without hand washing or changing gloves in between tasks.

Meanwhile, an employee in the Pre-Pack Room was spraying ammonium-based sanitizer to clean work surfaces while another employee in close proximity was packaging exposed ready-to-eat mesculin salad. Another employee's unprotected upper sleeves were frequently touching ready-to-eat leafy salad greens as leafy salad greens were packaged into retail packs.

"FDA has serious concerns that our investigators found your firm operating under these conditions," the agency said.

Whole Foods Market North Atlantic Kitchen, based in Everett, Massachusetts, supplies prepared foods and other products to Whole Foods stores located in Massachusetts, Maine, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York and New Jersey.