FDA seizes milk stored at Angola PETER SHINKLE Publication Date: August 3, 1996 Federal officials have seized 1,108 cases of canned evaporated milk stored at Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola, claiming they are unfit for human consumption. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration filed a complaint in federal court Thursday claiming the cans were rusty and dented. FDA investigator David LeRay said in a sworn statement filed in court that the cases were stacked "wall to wall and floor to rafters" in a cement block building at Angola. "Several barrels in the building were filled with moldy and leaking cans of evaporated milk. A putrid odor of decomposition permeated the interior of the building," LeRay said in his statement, which was filed in support of the seizure. The condition of the cans posed a threat to public health, said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Jackson. The local U.S. attorney's office is handling the case in court. Charles Sullivan, president of Louisiana Agri-Can Co. Inc., which owns the cans, said Friday he was surprised by the seizure. Sullivan said he long ago reported to officials that 500 cases of the cans were spoiled through routine problems that arise during handling of cans - such as when a forklift collides with a pallet of cases. Sullivan said he sent the cans to the prison to be relabeled by inmates. The relabeling plant at the prison was the focus of a hearing in federal court last year into how prison officials handled inmate concerns about the plant. Sullivan said more of the cans may have been damaged when they were moved by prison officials. Still, he said, many of the cans may be fine. "I just don't know without being there and seeing them," said Sullivan, who lives and runs a food relabeling business in Stockton, Calif.

Sullivan said he expects to try to get the good cans released from the government's custody. Sullivan said the cans are the remainder of roughly 1 million cans of Carnation evaporated milk he bought from a broker, who had purchased them from food giant Nestle USA, based in Glendale, Calif. Of the 1,108 cases at the prison, 467 cases have cans bearing the Carnation label, 235 contain cans with the label Poto'gold, and 406 cases are unlabeled, the FDA said. Nestle spokeswoman Laurie McDonald said the company sold the cans because they were rusted, and the company no longer has responsibility for - or control over - the cans. The seizure is the latest chapter in the story of Louisiana Agri-Can, which signed a contract with the state to have inmates relabel cans of food products at an old canning plant at the penitentiary. The inmates were paid as little as four cents per hour for their work. The enterprise drew attention last year when an inmate charged he was the victim of retaliation by prison officials after he complained of possible violations of federal law at the plant. U.S. District Judge Frank Polozola ruled last November that warden Burl Cain and other prison officials violated the rights of the inmate, William Kissinger. The officials retaliated against Kissinger when they deprived him of his job as a legal counselor to other inmates, the judge ruled. Polozola also said the evidence that came out in court hearings suggested Kissinger's concerns were legitimate. The judge suggested that the U.S. Department of Justice and other state and federal officials should investigate the can-relabeling operation. In a statement filed in court, FDA investigator Henry Sanchez said the FDA took samples from the cans in April and found extensive rust.

For instance, FDA officials examined 12 of the 467 cases carrying the Nestle label, finding that every can in those 12 cases had rust,dents, or both, Sanchez said. They also took eight cans from each of those 12 cases, or a total of 96 cans. "Their examination disclosed all 96 cans to have container defects including 62 with major body rust, 21 cans with major body dents,"Sanchez said. Sanchez also reported the ends of some of the cans were crushed. Sullivan said he could not address the alleged damage until he examines the cans. Operations stopped at the plant before the hearing in November. The plant has been "in limbo" since then, Sullivan said. But he said the FDA has "cleared" the vast majority of the cans processed by the plant during several months of operation. About 19,000 cases of evaporated milk - or about 912,000 8-oz. cans - left the plant with new labels on and entered the stream of commerce, Sullivan said. Sullivan said he bought the cans from a broker, who had bought them from Nestle for the purpose of relabeling. He said such can relabeling is common in the food industry. He said he is upset by the government's decision to spend so much time probing his business. "We're good people trying to do good things," he said. McDonald, the Nestle spokeswoman, said that although Nestle sold the cans because they were rusted, the cans were safe and the milk in them was "wholesome" when they left Nestle.