FDA Warns Seafood Importer Over Botulism Controls and a Cat

On September 29, 2026, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) publicly posted an August 20, 2026 warning letter issued to South Asian Food Inc., an importer based in Maspeth, New York. The agency cited the company for serious violations of Seafood Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) regulations and Current Good Manufacturing Practice (CGMP) standards, including missing foreign supplier verification for the lethal pathogen Clostridium botulinum and a live cat inhabiting its food storage warehouse. The letter warns that if the violations are not corrected, FDA may refuse admission of the firm's imported fish, seize products or seek an injunction.

Key Takeaways

• On September 29, 2026, the FDA posted an August 20, 2026 warning letter to South Asian Food Inc. in Maspeth, New York, citing Seafood HACCP and CGMP violations.
• FDA says the firm had no written importer verification procedures with affirmative steps for three vacuum-packed ready-to-eat dried fish and shrimp products that have a process-related Clostridium botulinum hazard, and which were held at ambient temperature.
• Each product label carried contradictory storage instructions, reading "Keep In Room Temperature. Keep Frozen**Store at (-18°C)."
• The investigator saw a cat roaming between pallets of food, open cat food, and a litter box with apparent mammal excreta in a warehouse holding spices, rice, RTE biscuits, toast and cookies.
• FDA says it may refuse admission of the firm's imported fish (including placing them on detention without physical examination), seize products or seek an injunction if the violations are not corrected.

What happened

The FDA Human Foods Program issued warning letter MARCS-CMS 728657 to South Asian Food Inc., located at 56-27 56th Drive in Maspeth, Queens, New York. The letter is dated August 20, 2026, and was posted to the public FDA warning letters database on September 29, 2026. It follows an FDA inspection of the firm's facilities between March 2 and March 9, 2026.

FDA says its investigator found "serious violations" of the seafood HACCP regulation, Title 21 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Part 123. FDA says the firm's imported dried seafood products are adulterated under section 402(a)(4) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. In FDA's words, they "have been prepared, packed, or held under insanitary conditions whereby they may have been rendered injurious to health," because assurances do not exist that they were processed in line with Part 123.

The agency's primary technical charges focus on an absence of required written importer verification procedures under 21 CFR 123.12, conflicting storage statements on the product labels, and a failure to exclude pests from warehouses holding food. While the formal FDA Warning Letter to South Asian Food Inc. is formal notice of FDA's concerns, it is not a shutdown order or a final agency action.

What changed

Under federal regulation 21 CFR 123.12, importers must establish and implement affirmative written verification procedures. Those procedures must ensure that imported fish and fishery products were processed in accordance with Part 123. FDA says South Asian Food Inc. did not have, and had not implemented, written verification procedures that include affirmative steps for three vacuum-packed products made by a foreign manufacturer whose name and location are redacted.

The three specific items named in the action are:

• Vacuum packed ready-to-eat (RTE) Anchovy with Chilli (Stolephorus indicus)
• Vacuum packed RTE Lotia Bombay Duck with Chilli (Harpadon nehereus)
• RTE vacuum packed Golden Dried Shrimp with Chilli, Garlic, & Onion (Metapenaeus ensis)

FDA says these products "have a process related hazard of Clostridium Botulinum." On March 9, 2026, an investigator saw them in a warehouse kept at an ambient temperature (the exact figure is redacted). "Due to the lack of import verification documentation from the supplier, you could not provide assurance that the hazard of Clostridium botulinum is being controlled at the foreign facility so that these products may be safely stored at ambient temperatures," the letter says.

The agency also cited a failure to exclude pests, under 21 CFR 123.11(b) and 21 CFR 117 Subpart B. On March 2, 2026, the investigator observed "a cat ... roaming between rows of pallets containing food," along with an open bag of dry cat food, several open cans of cat food, cat litter and a litter box with apparent mammal excreta. Pest problems in food warehouses can escalate: in an unrelated case, a Court Shuts Food Warehouse Over Rodent Infestation.

The warehouse doors were kept open with damaged curtains in the doorways; FDA says the doors open to the outside and "lack any other means to prevent egress of pests and rodents." Each warehouse held spices, rice, RTE biscuits, toast and cookies. The firm's March 23, 2026 response included a "Warehouse Cleaning Procedure" SOP, but FDA says it "does not address excluding pests" and that the response "does not address how you intend to remove the cats from your food warehouse."

Who is affected

The scope of the Seafood HACCP non-compliance directly affects the distribution chain for the three vacuum-packed RTE dried seafood items produced by the redacted foreign supplier. The FDA did not disclose retail brand names, universal product codes (UPCs), or specific distribution lists for these products, nor was the geographic reach of subsequent distribution revealed in the public enforcement record.

The pest findings concern warehouses that also held spices, rice and baked goods. The letter does not say any of those foods were found contaminated, and it does not name brands. For another recently posted FDA warning letter over facility conditions, see FDA Warns Ohio Cheesemaker After 14 Listeria Swabs.

The warning letter does not identify any confirmed illnesses, nor does it state that laboratory samples tested positive for Clostridium botulinum spores or botulinum toxin. No formal consumer recall or mandatory quarantine was announced in the letter. The violation rests entirely on the lack of preventive safety verification and the insanitary warehouse conditions FDA described.

What it means for shoppers

For shoppers purchasing imported dried seafood, the FDA highlighted a glaring package-labeling contradiction that serves as an immediate visual warning sign. According to FDA, the label on each of the three products (anchovy, Bombay duck and shrimp) includes both of these instructions:

• "Keep In Room Temperature"
• "Keep Frozen**Store at (-18°C)"

The letter's point is that, without the supplier's records, the importer could not show that these products were safe to keep at room temperature. A label that says both "room temperature" and "keep frozen" gives shoppers no reliable answer either.

A cautious approach for vacuum-packed ready-to-eat fish:

• Look for clear, consistent storage instructions; contradictory room-temperature and frozen directions are a red flag.
• If the label contradicts itself, follow the colder instruction (frozen, -18°C).
• Do not taste a vacuum pack that is swollen or bulging; throw it away.

The background

Clostridium botulinum is a spore-forming, anaerobic bacterium capable of producing one of the most lethal neurotoxins known to medicine. It grows without oxygen, which is why FDA treats vacuum-packed fish as a botulism risk that processors must control.

Under 21 CFR 123.12, U.S. importers must verify that the fish they import was processed under the seafood HACCP rules, through written procedures that include product specifications and affirmative steps. If those assurances do not exist, FDA says imported fish appears adulterated and will be denied entry.

During the Maspeth facility inspection in March 2026, South Asian Food Inc. could not provide import verification documentation from its supplier. The firm's March 23 reply included photographs of enrollment in a training course, but FDA said it is "unclear" whether either course includes training specific to 21 CFR Part 123.

What to watch next

South Asian Food Inc. was given 15 working days from the receipt of the August 20, 2026 warning letter to notify the FDA in writing of the specific steps taken to correct the violations. FDA asked for an explanation of each step taken to prevent recurrence, with copies of related documentation.

If the violations are not promptly corrected, FDA says it may:

• Refuse admission of the firm's imported fish or fishery products under section 801(a) of the Act, including placing them on "detention without physical examination."
• Seize the firm's products.
• Seek to enjoin the firm from further violating the Act.

Public records do not show whether the firm has removed the cats, changed the labels or been placed on an import alert. Furthermore, available regulatory documents do not disclose the specific foreign manufacturer, retail brands, or exact warehouse temperatures recorded during inspection. The public can track updates on the FDA Warning Letters Index to see how the agency ultimately resolves this matter.

To keep track of packaged food ingredients, additives, and regulatory red flags on grocery shelves, you can scan your next packaged food product directly using the free Aurascan app.