E. coli clue to contamination - Escherichia coli

FDA Consumer, Oct, 1989 by Catherine Carey, Judy Folkenberg, Vern Modeland

E. Coli Clue to Contamination

Escherichia coli (E. coli), found in samples from three inspections of a Louisiana seafood processing plant in 1986 and 1987, was the clue that led to criminal prosecution of William B. Pearson, the plant owner.

E. coli is a microorganism that normally dwells harmlessly in the intestines of humans and other warm-blooded animals. But when it arrives there via cooked food, it's an indication that there's trouble brewing. This is because cooking easily destroys E. Coli, so when it's found in cooked food, it probably means the food is contaminated with fecal matter that can transmit deadly pathogens causing disease.

Right from the start, FDA investigators noted several sanitation problems at Pearson's Seafood Plant that could allow for fecal contamination of cooked crabs. During a routine inspection in November 1986, investigators found crab meat, shell, and innards on the tables where the backs are removed and the crab meat is picked from the shell. The floor of this "backing" room was wet and dirty. The equipment used to hoist live and cooked crabs frequently touched the unclean areas, allowing cross-contamination of the cooked crabs. Flies were everywhere. FDA inspectors brought these sanitation violations to Pearson's attention, and he promised to correct them.

On July 27, 1987, FDA again checked Pearson's plant, only to find the conditions even more deplorable. One inspector noted employees putting picked crab meat in tubs that had been set on a bench full of dead flies. The chlorine "sanitizing" solution used to clean the tubs had so much crab meat and residue in it that the inspector dubbed it "crab soup." Once more Pearson promised to clean up the operation.

But a third inspection two months later showed still worse conditions. Sewage drained for three feet on the ground from an exposed outlet on one side of the plant out to a partially open septic tank. Pearson's residential trailer, located near the plant, drained septic runoff directly into an open ditch that ran along another side of the plant, and, according to one inspector, an exposed sump pump in the area "reeked of human waste."

There was an open sewage pond just 80 feet from the plant. A dog was seen defecating on the plant's driveway, and cats roamed freely in and around the plant. The plant's uncovered dumpster was filled with fish waste. Dead flies, cigarette butts, and other waste were found in puddles of dirty water on the floor of the room where fish and oysters were processed, and live flies had unimpeded access to cooked crab meat.

These and other sanitation violations were again brought to Pearson's attention.

On Dec. 30, 1987, FDA sent Pearson a section 305 notice (notification of violations of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act), requesting a meeting at which he could respond to the agency's findings. At a Jan. 26, 1988, meeting with FDA officials. Pearson stated that the dogs and cats on the property were strays, and the driveway was a dedicated (but unused) public street. He contended that the sewage pond near his plant was approved by the state and must be open to the air. He defended the runoff of raw sewage from his trailer, saying his home was on residential property.

During the meeting, Pearson said he knew he could sell his crab meat within the state to evade FDA jurisdiction (over interstate commerce) and if he continued to have problems with FDA, he would go out of business rather than fight.

FDA turned the case over to the Department of Justice.

"Mr. Pearson seems incapable of conducting a crab-processing operation in a sanitary manner," said Thomas Scarlett, FDA's chief counsel, in a letter to the Justice Department's office of consumer litigation. "Nothing short of criminal prosecution is likely to stop the deplorable practices and conditions that FDA has found in inspection after inspection."

On March 10, 1989, Pearson was charged with six counts of adulteration, and pled guilty to two. He was sentenced April 17, 1989, to three years' probation, ordered to serve 100 hours of community service, and fined $2,000.

FDA will continue to monitor Pearson's operation.