Permanent injunction bars Sacramento firm from making tofu | The Sacramento Bee

A permanent injunction was filed in federal court Tuesday against a Sacramento manufacturer and distributor of tofu and soy bean products, barring the company’s distribution of adulterated food.

Henh Wong Fresh Produce did not contest a civil complaint filed June 30 in Sacramento federal court by the U.S. Department of Justice at the request of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that alleged the company and three individuals have a history of processing food products under insanitary conditions.

Henh Wong, its owner, David C. Ly and employees Kin S. Ly and Thahn “Danny” C. Ly agreed to the injunction and, on the same day the complaint was filed, entered into a consent decree with the government that prohibits them from committing violations of the federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act. The consent decree was approved by U.S. Magistrate Judge Carolyn K. Delaney on Monday.

The decree says the company has ceased operations at its production facility at 2630 Fifth St., Unit 92. The decree requires Henh Wong to remain closed, and requires that, if it seeks to resume operations, the FDA first must determine that the firm’s manufacturing practices have come into compliance with the law.

It manufactured and distributed tofu, seasoned tofu, fried tofu, fried bean cakes, soy jello and soy bean drinks. It also grew, harvested, prepared, packed, held and distributed ready-to-eat mung bean and soy bean sprouts. The firm also manufactured and distributed products under the names Henh Wong Fresh Product and Henh Wong Tofu.

According to a Justice Department press release, the FDA last inspected the facility a year ago, when investigators found “live cockroaches and flies in the tofu production room, a live cockroach inside a plastic container used for holding ready-to-eat tofu, dead cockroaches in the sprout processing room, a dead cockroach in the mung bean dry storage room, and rodent excreta pellets in the seed dry storage and sprout processing rooms.”

The release also says the investigators witnessed employees engaging in various unsanitary practices, including touching the food with unclean hands and dirty gloves and splashing debris onto the food while cleaning equipment with a high-pressure hose.

Henh Wong’s telephone is no longer in service, and its attorney could not immediately be reached.