USA – FDA Warning Letter – Mariscos Bahia, Inc. – Salmonella Outbreak

FDA

The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) inspected your seafood processing facility, Mariscos Bahia Inc, located at 8300 Rex Rd., Pico Rivera, CA 90660-3719 from October 6 to October 21, 2022. The inspection was initiated as part of a multistate foodborne outbreak investigation of Salmonella Litchfield (S. Litchfield) infections linked to seafood, including fresh, raw salmon, supplied by your facility. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 39 people from 4 states were infected with the outbreak strain of S. Litchfield. During our inspection we collected environmental samples (swabs) from various areas in your facility, including areas that are near food during processing operations. FDA laboratory analyses found the presence of the outbreak strain of S. Litchfield and two additional Salmonella strains, Salmonella Mbandaka (S. Mbandaka) and Salmonella Oranienburg (S. Oranienburg), which are human pathogens, in your facility. On October 20, 2022, your firm recalled various types of fresh fish processed at your facility and distributed between June 14, 2022 and October 17, 2022, because they had the potential of being contaminated with Salmonella. FDA and CDC have determined, based upon the epidemiologic, traceback evidence, and whole genome sequencing (WGS) matches between clinical and FDA environmental samples, that fresh salmon processed at your facility was the likely source of this multistate S. Litchfield outbreak.