Irvington, Alabama, U.S.A.-based Irvington Seafood is recalling 1-pound packages of crabmeat potentially contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes.
Lab testing showed that one batch of crabmeat tested positive for listeria on 12 May, Irvington said in the voluntary recall notice. After 94 additional samples were taken on 13 May, 12 samples of claw meat and two samples of crab fingers were positive for listeria.
Manufacturing of the product has been suspended while the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the company investigate the source of the problem. No illnesses have been reported in connection with the crabmeat, according to Irvington.
The 1-pound tubs of “Crabmeat: Jumbo, Lump, Finger, and Claw Meat" were distributed to retail seafood markets and restaurants in the U.S. states of Alabama and Mississippi.
The packages are marked with license number AL 111-C and “Irvington Seafood.”
This is not the first time Irvington has allegedly run afoul of health and safety protocols.
In May 2023, the U.S. government filed a complaint for permanent injunction against Irvington and several of its officers for distributing “adulterated seafood products” in violation of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA).
Inrvington Seafood was also previously the subject of multiple FDA inspections between 2006 and 2022 that found the company was preparing, packaging, and storing crabmeat products under insanitary conditions, according to a civil complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama on 25 April 2023.
Inspectors discovered the presence of maggots, flies, cockroaches, and Listeria monocytogenes bacteria on food contact and non-food contact surfaces. They also found employees were failing to properly wash their hands and aprons and that the company did not comply with required current good manufacturing practices and seafood hazard analysis critical control point (HACCP) regulations while also failing to take corrective actions despite numerous warnings, according to the complaint.
Irvington Seafood Owner Kevin Sakprasit opted to settle the case, agreeing to comply with the court’s injunction and avoiding a determination of liability, resulting in the temporary closure of the facility.
