Wa Heng Dou-Fu & Soy Sauce Corp., doing business as Wa Heng Dou-Fu & Soy Sauce International Enterprises (Wa Heng), along with co-owners Peng Xiang “Martin” Lin and Yuexiao “Opal” Lin have consented to a decree in the U.S. District Court for Eastern California that permanently restrains and enjoins any further operation of their California food business.
All the “defendants, their officers, regents, representatives, employees, attorneys, successors, assigns and any and all persons or entities” of the company are barred from directly or indirectly “receiving, preparing, processing, manufacturing, labeling packing, holding, and/or distributing” any food products at 2541 26th Ave. in Sacramento or 1305 Furneaux Road in Olivehurst, CA, or any other location.
The Consent Decree was entered on June 24 after the U.S. Department of Justice filed a June 17 complaint against Wa Heng and its owners at the request of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
“The American public deserves to be assured that companies and individuals preparing and distributing food subject to the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act are complying with federal law,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer, head of DOJ’s Civil Division.”
As detailed in the complaint, the company receives, prepares, processes, manufactures, packs, labels, holds and distributes soy products including fried tofu, firm tofu, seasoned tofu and soy drinks.
The complaint alleged that Martin Lin’s responsibilities include the firm’s daily operations, raw material purchases, facility and equipment maintenance and production schedule. Opal Lin’s responsibilities included training employees and overseeing employee performance.
In conjunction with the consent decree, the defendants agreed to settle the case and to be bound by a permanent injunction that requires Wa Heng to cease all food preparation, manufacturing and distribution. If the defendants seek to resume any food business, they must implement remedial measures set forth in the injunction, notify FDA of the measures taken, and receive written notification from FDA that they appear to be in compliance with the remedial requirements set forth in the injunction and the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act.
Wa Heng has a history of food safety violations, according to court documents.
A 2015 inspection by FDA documented that the defendants failed to take reasonable precautions to ensure that production procedures do not contribute to contamination from any source.
For example, as alleged in the complaint, FDA observed at least three employees spraying pressurized water from a water hose onto the production area floor, causing water to 
splash from the floor onto uncovered tofu and onto food contact surfaces, such as tofu presses and a filtration table. Tests of environmental swab samples from that floor were positive for Salmonella Havana.
splash from the floor onto uncovered tofu and onto food contact surfaces, such as tofu presses and a filtration table. Tests of environmental swab samples from that floor were positive for Salmonella Havana.
The water splashing from the floor onto food contact surfaces was a repeat observation from an FDA inspection in 2012. In addition, FDA observed employees touching the bottoms of buckets and crates that had been on the floor and then touching tofu.
The hand wash sink in the production room had no hot water because the valve had been turned off and the sink was inaccessible due to crates in front of it. This was also a repeat observation from the 2012 inspection.
The most recent inspection also found that the defendants failed to maintain equipment and utensils in an acceptable fashion through appropriate cleaning and sanitizing. FDA observed spray hose nozzles, air valves, water valves and light switches that contained heavy residue, as well as a tofu cutting knife that was placed on top of a tofu press with greenish-brown buildup and then used to slice tofu.
Further, the complaint alleged that during the 2015 inspection, FDA conducted environmental sampling of the facility and five subsamples tested positive for pathogenic Salmonella Havana. According to the complaint, the positive samples were taken from, among other places, a floor drain near a cooking tank, a caster wheel on a cart carrying tofu and the floor between the packing and processing rooms. As noted in the complaint, FDA isolated a nearly identical strain of Salmonella Havana during its 2011 and 2012 inspections.
During the 2015 inspection, FDA also collected samples of the defendants’ product labeling. The complaint alleges that the defendants’ products are misbranded because, among other things, some of the firm’s soy products fail to include a label containing an accurate statement of the quantity of the contents in terms of weight, measure or numerical count.
“Firms and individuals that violate federal food safety regulations pose a danger to public health,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert of the Eastern District of California. “The department will not hesitate to hold companies and individuals accountable in order to protect the American people from adulterated food.”
The government is represented by Trial Attorney Raquel Toledo of the Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch, with the assistance of Assistant U.S. Attorney Colleen Kennedy of the Eastern District of California and Associate Chief Counsel for Enforcement Charlotte Hinkle of the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of General Counsel’s Food and Drug Division.
The consent decree was signed by federal Judge Kimberly J. Mueller.
