Court Halts Minnesota Seafood Company Operations Over Safety Law Violations

A federal court in Minnesota has issued a permanent injunction against a Minneapolis seafood company accused of repeatedly violating food safety laws.

The injunction against Captain’s Select Seafood Inc. was issued Feb. 17 and announced Monday by the Food and Drug Administration.

In an initial complaint in June 2008, the FDA accused Captain’s Select of not having adequate plans for identifying food safety hazards and preventing them. The FDA said the paperwork violations ran from 2004 through at least early 2008, and the company was repeatedly warned after inspections.

Captain’s Select can’t resume its business without getting the FDA or a federal court to sign off on its paperwork.

Captain’s Select attorney Tom Kane called the permanent injunction “meaningless,” saying the company has effectively been out of business since soon after FDA filed its initial complaint. He said the company believed it had filled out its paperwork properly.

The company packaged, held and distributed a variety of fresh, frozen and ready-to-eat fish products from suppliers in Florida, Maine, Maryland and Massachusetts, according to the FDA’s original complaint.

No illnesses were ever reported from Captain’s Select products, the FDA said Monday.