21 replies to this topic

[AZuzack]

So I understand this could be a can of worms but since I'm the only QA person at my company I'm lacking the peers to have a healthy discussion on this Recall:

https://www.fda.gov/...including-drugs

 

I saw the recall on facebook before I saw it anywhere else and maybe that's why I question it.  You have to question everything you see on facebook, right?  

 

The recall to me is leaning to the excessive side.  I've had the QA responsibility over warehoused product when mouse droppings were found in one area. We did not throw away ALL the items in the warehouse the size of 4 football fields.  

 

On one hand, I get the problem.  There's lots of evidence of feces meaning there were animals and just because you can't see the evidence of the animal on this or that pallet, doesn't mean they didn't drag the bacteria all over it or maybe just across this tiny corner of it.  On the other hand, this food is already packaged likely behind some sort of plastic liner so the food itself is NOT contaminated, but we're still discarding food that had 2-3 layers of packaging and then a layer of stretch wrap or plastic shroud or both.  

 

Food for thought:

So is there more to this story?  How big was this warehouse?  Was the animal activity isolated to one area or more widespread?  Did the facility attempt to clean and sort through impacted pallets?  Is the concern that the warehouse didn't identify the issue, so you have to assume that anything touched by hands is now contaminated so any pallets that were broken down or restacked for shipment to smaller locations were "cross-contaminated" with the feces?  Did the warehouse not track pallet location so they don't know which pallets were in the area with the feces?  Were the animal culprits captured or identified?  Is the real concern that some of this product was medical devices or animal food?

 

I want to acknowledge that there are some powder keg potential questions that I'm going to ignore for the sake of trying to keep this discussion about food safety.  

 

To assist with discussion, here is a link to the May 2025 warning letter for another food warehouse that states that Inspectors actually visually witnessed live and deceased rodents in the warehouse across multiple days.  

https://www.fda.gov/...717171-11132025

 

 

 

[KellyQA]

If you go to the FDA Data Dashboard and type in Gold Star Distribution, you can see that they have had issues with pest control since 2012. 

It seems this issue is older than a decade for them. 

 

https://datadashboar...inspections.htm

 

Unfortunately, to my knowledge, Minnesota (Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA)) does not currently have a statewide public online register of food safety inspection reports. 

[Scampi]

The recall reads like there was a LOT of visible contamination and the operator opted to do nothing

[MDaleDDF]

Report read like it was pretty nasty to me....

[jfrey123]

Approximately 2,464 items recalled.  Holy crap!!!  Gold Star Distribution - Multiple Brand Names and Products  The products are from just about every major brand you could think of too.

 

FDA is stating they found bird droppings, rodent droppings and urine all over the products.  Pretty nasty.

[TimG]

Minneapolis is having a rough year so far.. 

[kfromNE]

https://www.fda.gov/...717171-11132025

 

This one is so bad and what I first thought about when you mentioned the recall. 

 

They had a pet cat for pest control but it wasn't trained well so it caused contamination too. A rodent also ran across the investigator/inspector's shoe. So glad I'm not an inspector. 

 

 

"On May 12, 2025, a dead apparent rodent was observed on the warehouse floor near where your live pet cat was standing."

"A domestic cat was observed roaming freely in the warehouse during the inspection. Cat feces and urine were documented on multiple inspection dates, in the warehouse"

"On May 12, 2025, an apparent rodent was observed exiting a bag of corn meal and running across an investigator’s shoe"

Edited by kfromNE, 30 January 2026 - 06:28 PM.

[MDaleDDF]

Minneapolis is having a rough year so far.. 

And it's not even February yet....

[AZuzack]

I didn't find the report to be overly insightful. It does not say all over all the product.  It says in the same area.  

 

"The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) determined that the facility was operating under insanitary conditions, including the presence of rodent excreta, rodent urine, and bird droppings in areas where medical devices, drugs, human food, pet food, and cosmetic products were held." 

 

That could be like droppings on a corner in the back of a 2 football field sized room.  You wouldn't necessarily consider the product 100yds away to be adulterated.  There's no mention of nesting or infestation or animal sightings.  Birds get in warehouses and have to be shooed out and yes, someone has to inspect and release all the product but you don't just send everything in a warehouse to the dumpster.  When you compare it to the report from KY, KY sounds way worse than the Minneapolis infraction making the response seem disproportionate.  I guess I just expected a more detailed description for the level and extent of the recall.  

[bkrjones]

This recall reads very similarly to the Family Dollar recall back in 2022.

 

https://www.fda.gov/...tates-including

 

That lead to $40+ million dollar fine for them.

 

https://www.npr.org/...dents-warehouse

[SQFconsultant]

Minneapolis is having a rough year so far.. 

 

OMG, now that just made my day Tim!!!!!

[SQFconsultant]

Looks pretty apparent that those multiple brands stored there did not do their due diligence in ensuring where their product is stored is free of major issues.

 

Gold Star has quite the history, oh yes indeed they do.

 

I was just looking at the list of brands, products - upsetting to see Horney Goat Weed on there, a favorite.

Edited by SQFconsultant, 30 January 2026 - 08:22 PM.

[Scampi]

I didn't find the report to be overly insightful. It does not say all over all the product.  It says in the same area.  

 

"The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) determined that the facility was operating under insanitary conditions, including the presence of rodent excreta, rodent urine, and bird droppings in areas where medical devices, drugs, human food, pet food, and cosmetic products were held." 

 

That could be like droppings on a corner in the back of a 2 football field sized room.  You wouldn't necessarily consider the product 100yds away to be adulterated.  There's no mention of nesting or infestation or animal sightings.  Birds get in warehouses and have to be shooed out and yes, someone has to inspect and release all the product but you don't just send everything in a warehouse to the dumpster.  When you compare it to the report from KY, KY sounds way worse than the Minneapolis infraction making the response seem disproportionate.  I guess I just expected a more detailed description for the level and extent of the recall.  

 

 

The details are privledged and private...........and for good reason

 

I think you are trying to justify your position at your facility       Do you really think they would force a recall for 20 individual pieces of feces in a massive warehouse?  Uh no

[Setanta]

I didn't find the report to be overly insightful. It does not say all over all the product.  It says in the same area.  

 

"The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) determined that the facility was operating under insanitary conditions, including the presence of rodent excreta, rodent urine, and bird droppings in areas where medical devices, drugs, human food, pet food, and cosmetic products were held." 

 

That could be like droppings on a corner in the back of a 2 football field sized room.  You wouldn't necessarily consider the product 100yds away to be adulterated.  There's no mention of nesting or infestation or animal sightings.  Birds get in warehouses and have to be shooed out and yes, someone has to inspect and release all the product but you don't just send everything in a warehouse to the dumpster.  When you compare it to the report from KY, KY sounds way worse than the Minneapolis infraction making the response seem disproportionate.  I guess I just expected a more detailed description for the level and extent of the recall.  

 

 

When this first broke, late last year or early 2026, my inital (not quite rational) thought was the Administration really doesn't like MN, so this MAY be a finger on the scale. But reading some details, I am reconsidering.    

 

It been tough in Minnesota this winter.  

[SHQuality]

If you go to the FDA Data Dashboard and type in Gold Star Distribution, you can see that they have had issues with pest control since 2012. 

It seems this issue is older than a decade for them. 

 

https://datadashboar...inspections.htm

 

Unfortunately, to my knowledge, Minnesota (Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA)) does not currently have a statewide public online register of food safety inspection reports. 

How is it possible for them to still be in business when they can't have their facility under control for more than a decade? What happened during all the intervening audits?

[GMO]

Looks pretty apparent that those multiple brands stored there did not do their due diligence in ensuring where their product is stored is free of major issues.

 

I wonder who contracted them? The retailer or the brands? Either way, I've had experience of this. What was considered to be a low risk warehouse. GFSI audited. Product came back with signs of rat infestation.

 

Their pest management audits? Squeaky clean. No findings internally. I go for an announced visit and find rat droppings inside the building which were coloured so I could see the rats had been eating the non toxic bait. Bear in mind I am not a pest technologist. I'm not an expert in this but I found them. So at that moment, I then knew they had an issue and at least their pest contractor knew they had one. Why they weren't putting it on the reports is one of two reasons in my view. They were knowingly leaving it out at the warehouse insistence or they got bored raising things which were never fixed. Both wrong of course.

 

We stopped using them immediately.

 

Not sure about other schemes but I've never seen a BRCGS auditor spend enough time in the plant looking at pest management. Not unless it's AIB as a certification body that is, just because the auditors are so experienced in it (albeit they've missed two howlers in one site I know). Most BRCGS auditors I've found take the technical reports as gospel and do little, if any inspection for signs of pests unless it's glaringly obvious and in their face.

[AZuzack]

The details are privledged and private...........and for good reason

 

I think you are trying to justify your position at your facility       Do you really think they would force a recall for 20 individual pieces of feces in a massive warehouse?  Uh no

 

Scampi on the offense for no reason at all.  

 

Some rodents stick to walls and away from open areas and others don't.  I have no issue with my decision on the other products in my former warehouse.  I didn't agree with my former employer on what they choose to deem "good" for use within our identified area of concern. 

There's also the source of rodent or the droppings to consider.  Did either come in with a pallet?  Plants are supposed to inspect their wood pallets before use because they harbor insects, and sometimes contain evidence of previous outdoor storage like feather, and feces.  So merely finding droppings doesn't mean there's live animals around.  

 

In the Minneapolis case, I imagine that they are unstacking, and unboxing to make small shipments to small local stores.  In that case, there's a lot of touching multiple surfaces and the cross contamination could be rampant across all the products.  

 

I think overall we are getting some good discussion on the topic.  

 

I want to know why FDA was checking in on Gold Star between 2019 and 2026.  That seems like a pretty big oversight.  

 

I also want to know what was actually witnessed like the Kentucky company's warning letter outlined actual sightings across multiple days.  

[qa_maddy]

Hello, 

MN resident here. 

 

MN Dept of Ag contracts with the FDA like a lot of other states and took a hit during COVID like everyone else did a may not have been able to get out there for as frequent of visits as they wanted, especially if there weren't considered a high risk facility- also MN does put out inspection reports but it's only for Minneapolis and it's only for restaurants generally.

This recall also included so many little like mom and pop type grocery/corner stores around the Twin Cities because that's where this place distributed to - so the idea that they were likely breaking down pallets and exposing multiple surfaces /cross contaminating things is really plausible.  

 

This recall was also badly communicated statewide in general - I had a ton of friends reaching out to me about it due to it being so many different types of items and not a ton of clarifying information on where it all ended up. I immediately thought of the Dollar Tree recall from 2022.  There must have been enough ...build up that it was deemed a health hazard. I mean they keep calling out Salmonella in the warning letter which I thought was interesting. 

It just seems like it's probably one of the many warehouses in an old retrofit building that hasn't gotten it's pest control figured out when it needs to. 

[AZuzack]

Hello, 

MN resident here. 

 

MN Dept of Ag contracts with the FDA like a lot of other states and took a hit during COVID like everyone else did a may not have been able to get out there for as frequent of visits as they wanted, especially if there weren't considered a high risk facility- also MN does put out inspection reports but it's only for Minneapolis and it's only for restaurants generally.

This recall also included so many little like mom and pop type grocery/corner stores around the Twin Cities because that's where this place distributed to - so the idea that they were likely breaking down pallets and exposing multiple surfaces /cross contaminating things is really plausible.  

 

This recall was also badly communicated statewide in general - I had a ton of friends reaching out to me about it due to it being so many different types of items and not a ton of clarifying information on where it all ended up. I immediately thought of the Dollar Tree recall from 2022.  There must have been enough ...build up that it was deemed a health hazard. I mean they keep calling out Salmonella in the warning letter which I thought was interesting. 

It just seems like it's probably one of the many warehouses in an old retrofit building that hasn't gotten it's pest control figured out when it needs to. 

I'm not surprised your friends reached out.  It's a wide net recall that doesn't make sense to most rational people and is quite frankly chaos producing.  QA Maddy was the first response to notice that the grocers receiving these goods were Mom & Pop shops.  A look at the store names shows that these are heavily Mom & Pop shops in immigrant areas and likely immigrant owned & operated.  

 

So there you have it Scampi.  I did have an ulterior motive.  I wanted to gauge if anyone else thought, even for a second, if something was amiss with this situation.  To be clear, I'm not saying there wasn't filth or that a recall wasn't the correct course of action.  I'm saying I expected more information about the situation along with some scientific evidence.  More along the lines of what we have received from other situations in 2025. (BiHeart, Raaw Energy, last years cucumbers, the KY warehouse). 

 

The initial responses to my original post all embellished upon the information actually given.  Psychologically, that's what humans do when story lines don't make sense.  We add the details to make it make sense to us.  

 

My point is that this story does not align with other recent practices/actions/inactions of the FDA.  So to me, this only makes sense as the Federal government making an opportunistic lunge at the throat (or perhaps stomach) of an immigrant community.  If so, it was a very well played move that none of you questioned.  Regardless of whether I believe the punishment fits the description of the crime, the warehouse failed inspection and was held accountable for their failures.  That is what the FDA is supposed to do.  

[Setanta]

When this first broke, late last year or early 2026, my inital (not quite rational) thought was the Administration really doesn't like MN, so this MAY be a finger on the scale. But reading some details, I am reconsidering.    

 

It been tough in Minnesota this winter.  

 Quote  ":My point is that this story does not align with other recent practices/actions/inactions of the FDA.  So to me, this only makes sense as the Federal government making an opportunistic lunge at the throat (or perhaps stomach) of an immigrant community.  If so, it was a very well played move that none of you questioned." End Quote

 

 

 

Well, that was what I was trying to imply. 

[qa_maddy]

whoa...I knew they were immigrant owned Mom and Pop grocers because I *live* here. 

 

I wasn't trying to imply or confirm any kind of like political pressure? Don't get me wrong - there's A LOT happening in Minnesota / The Twin Cities right now. I try not to get into a lot of my own personal feelings about that in this space despite food being inherently political because that's just an entirely different can of worms. 

 

 

I've worked in some of the historic buildings in these neighborhoods. The idea that there's just systemic issues and lack of attention given to pest control isn't out of the question. These are not wealthy neighborhoods. I can't confirm the motivations of the FDA or whoever ended up completing the inspection on their behalf, but I don't know - it seems fairly standard with a place that's received warning letters prior to their latest inspection that did resolve the issues.  

[MDaleDDF]

Yeahhhhhhhh.... not sure I buy that.