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The US Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) suspended the food facility registration of Roos Foods of Kenton, Delaware. The facility registration is required by all food companies in order to distribute their products. The suspension follows the widening investigation by the FDA, Center for Disease Control (CDC) and state and local officials into a multi-state outbreak of listeriosis linked to Hispanic-style cheese products made and distributed by Roos Foods. The suspension is only the second time the Agency flexed its new power gained under the 2011 Food Safety Modernization Act. The CDC reports that a total of 8 persons infected with the outbreak strain of Listeria monocytogenes have been reported from two states -California (1), Maryland (7).

The first time the FDA suspended a facility’s registration was in November of 2012. The FDA suspended Sunland, Inc. in Portales NM following a nationwide salmonella outbreak linked to 20 states. In the case of Sunland the number of ill reached 41 before the Agency stepped in to stop all distribution and suspend operations. It was likely the deplorable conditions found during the for cause inspection at Roos Foods’ facility that prompted the current suspension.

FSMA provides the FDA authority to suspend a company’s registration when food manufactured or held there has a “reasonable probability” of causing serious health problems or death. The leaking roof and standing water likely provided the “reasonable probability” to suspend Roos Foods since both create prime breeding grounds for bacteria like Listeria.