Last week, this blog was among the first to report on a surprisingly stern warning letter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to a small, artisan coffee roaster in Seattle, Zoka Coffee. The letter described hundreds of “rodent excretia pellets” and other signs of mice or rats in Zoka’s roasting plant, along with other unsanitary conditions. (See http://wineandfoodworld.com/post/10776752923.) 

Now, Zoka Coffee has responded, calling the FDA letter a “mistake” and that the sanitation problems were addressed within days of the April 2011 inspection. The company also says it got a clear report (93 out of 100 points) from Washington state authorities just last month, as well. Zoka executive Jeff Babcock provides a timeline indicating that the extent of the rodent problem was discovered during the FDA inspection on April 15, 2011, that the company voluntarily shut the plant immediately for three days of “top to bottom” sanitation, and state inspectors cleared the plant for continued operations on April 18, 2011.

I give the company credit for sharing the detailed information and inviting customers to drop by the plant so they can see for themselves. I also applaud that they corrected the sanitation problems so quickly — all too often, sanitation violations build up over time. And, I share some of the dismay that the company has that the efforts that they put into corrective action were not reflected in the FDA warning letter.

But I also am left wondering how the problem could have occurred in the first place. The FDA letter cited much more than an anomaly. The combination of widespread pest droppings, apparent urine stains and handling problems likely built up over time. It’s great that Zoka Coffee has corrected the problems, but I hope that Zoka and all other food processors remain more vigilant so that they catch problems before those problems reach consumers like us.