Damn dirty soy

This just in from @vielmetti: Local soy product producer, Rosewood Farms (which is owned by Green Hope LLC), has agreed to a "consent decree of permanent injunction for violations of FDA food safety regulations." Back in March of last year, the Freep reported:

The Department of Justice requested a permanent injunction today against Rosewood Products and its owner, Phil G. Ye, saying the company has failed to correct unsanitary and filthy conditions at its plant.

It said the company, which processes soy beans from Ohio into food products for shipment to Minnesota, has failed to prevent employees from handling food products with bare, unclean hands, clean surfaces that come into contact with food or ensure that the plant is equipped with adequate sanitary facilities.

According to the FDA press release:

Under the consent decree, Green Hope must stop operations until the FDA approves the steps taken to bring its operations into full compliance with the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act and FDA food safety regulations. The steps include hiring an independent expert to develop a written sanitation control program and an employee training program, and assigning a Green Hope employee to implement and maintain the sanitation control program.

The FDA may at any time re-inspect the facility to ensure that these measures are being carried out. In addition, Green Hope will pay all costs of FDA supervision, inspections, analyses, examinations and reviews associated with this consent decree.

It seems unfortunate that Rosewood Products has needed such a strong intervention to become compliant with federal law. Hopefully this will be taken care of shortly.