U.S. Marshals Seize Food From Rodent-Infested GA Warehouse

/PRNewswire/ -- U.S. Marshals, acting under a court order sought by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, today seized packaged food products from a rodent-infested warehouse in Athens, Ga. A variety of products, including crackers, cookies and potato chips, were intended for sale to jails and prisons throughout the southeastern United States.

The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia issued a warrant for the seizure of all of the food in the warehouse from Mid-States Services Inc., that the FDA and the Georgia Department of Agriculture (GDA) determined to be susceptible to contamination by rodents. The food was valued at $859,000.

The government's complaint alleges that the products are adulterated under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act because they have been held under insanitary conditions, whereby they may have become contaminated with filth.

The two agencies investigated the Mid-States Services facility from July 14 through July 21, 2010, and found "widespread active rodent infestation both inside and outside the facility" according to the government's complaint.

Investigators found 14 live rodents, seven dead rodents, 23 gnaw holes on multiple food containers, multiple containers of food containing rodent pellets, four rodent nests, and apparent rodent pellets too numerous to count, on and around food packages, as well as finding structural defects making the facilities accessible to rodents.

"This is an example of quick action by the FDA and our state partner to prevent contaminated food from reaching consumers," said Michael A. Chappell, acting associate commissioner for regulatory affairs. "The FDA took this action because the company failed to provide adequate safeguards to ensure that products they produce or hold for sale remain free of contamination."

On July 15, 2010, GDA placed all food in the warehouse under a stop sale order. Four days later, the firm voluntarily destroyed some of the food but, as alleged in the complaint, a significant amount of food was not destroyed. On July 21, 2010, FDA investigators provided the warehouse manager a list of inspectional observations documenting the violations, but the company did not formally respond.

"As soon as we heard about this unlicensed warehouse and the conditions under which food was held, we took action with FDA," said Tommy Irvin, Georgia commissioner of agriculture. "We used our authority under the Georgia Food Act to immediately stop the sale and movement of food from the warehouse. We also promptly alerted the facilities in Georgia that had received food from this warehouse."

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2008 Gospel Choice Awards Selects Emmanuel Praise Church for Its Church of the Year Award

PRNewswire/ -- Emmanuel Praise Church, the founding church of Angel Food Ministries, in Monroe, Ga., has been chosen as this year's recipient of Church of the Year for the Gospel Choice/Pepsi Bottling Group's Community Outreach Award.

This prestigious award is given to one church each year for humanitarian work in their community and throughout the United States. Emmanuel Praise Church was nominated along with 15 other churches across Georgia known for their outreach and benevolent impact on their community.

The Gospel Choice/Pepsi Bottling Group's Award was presented Monday, Sept. 29th at the World Congress Center in Atlanta, as Executive Pastor Wes Wingo from Emmanuel Praise was on hand to accept the award. Pastor Wingo was thankful to receive the award on behalf of the church and Angel Food Ministries.

"One of our founding core values at Emmanuel Praise has always been to lend a helping hand to families in need. God has blessed this church as we have reached out to help feed thousands in our local community and millions across America," Pastor Wingo said.

Founders, Pastors Joe and Linda Wingo, began feeding 37 families in need from the back porch of their farmhouse in 1994. Since then, Emmanuel Praise Church has impacted the lives of millions of people through the founding of Angel Food Ministries. Each month, hundreds of thousands of families across the United States are impacted by this food ministry. Throughout the local community and the nation, Emmanuel Praise Church and its Pastors are known for their great generosity and compassion for the poor and hurting.

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