Penn Dutch Listeria: Two Locations Closing Due to Repeated Listeria Contamination
Penn Dutch, a Fresh Meat, Seafood, and Poultry Market, will be permanently closing its doors at both its Hollywood and Margate locations due to widespread listeria contamination.
Penn Dutch’s Hollywood location was inspected and closed two weeks ago. The Margate location was tested on August 6, with the samples showing no apparent contamination. But then the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) performed a state inspection of Penn Dutch’s Margate location on September 9, 2019 and found 13 samples positive for listeria monocytogenes. The contaminated samples were taken from areas such as the seafood department, the deli department, the chicken processing room, and the ready cooler and deli. Due to the extensive contamination throughout the store, the state recalled 15 products which correspond to the positive samples and disposed of 3,4000 pounds of meat.
The FDACS Commissioner, Nicole Fried, explained that listeria had been identified in at least 15 areas of the establishment, and issued a final order accusing Penn Dutch, which is located at 3201 N. State Road 7, of violating a number of stop-use and stop-sale orders. Commissioner Fried stated:
“It’s unfortunate that Penn Dutch chose to disregard our directives and endanger public safety. Moving equipment, products and people in and out of the listeria positive areas increases the potential for the spread of pathogens.”
Salsburg, the company president says, “this whole business was formed on quality and trust. We are shocked. We are the most upset people in the whole scenario.” Penn Dutch company is a fresh meat market distributor which has been around for over 40 years. Many old and fond customers have responded negatively to the closure saying the company should fix the problem rather than close. Despite this response, Salsburg recently announced: “We will not re-open [the] Hollywood store. … We are closing our Margate store. … We have not made any decisions on our Sunrise store.” Before permanent closure, the Penn Dutch, Margate location is having a large closing-sale on all remaining products.
The origin of the Penn Dutch Listeria is still unknown, however, investigations are still under way. One possible cause may have been the buildings leaky roofs. The Center for Disease Control says that listeria bacteria can more easily grow in areas with condensation or moisture. Whatever the cause of the listeria growth in the Penn Dutch stores, it seems the worry is over as there have been no reported illnesses prior to their closure.
https://www.cdc.gov/listeria/index.html
https://www.local10.com/news/dirty-dining/penn-dutch-s-margate-store-cited-for-using-restricted-area
