Recall puts Pasco frozen food plant on ice

The Pasco food processor at the heart of a massive food recall remains closed as investigators comb the plant in search of the source of a common pathogen linked to eight cases of food-borne illness in two states.

CRF Frozen Foods began a recall of 15 products on April 22 when tests connected a strain of Listeria monocytogenes in its Pasco plant to illnesses in Maryland and California.

The company expanded the recall on April 25 to cover all 358 frozen organic and traditional fruits processed in Pasco dating to May 1, 2014. The recall covers products sold under 42 separate brands.

CRF referred calls about its handling of the crisis to Gene Grabowski, a retail communications expert working with CRF and government regulators, including the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Grabowski said CRF acted quickly when investigators linked its products to eight illnesses, including two deaths not directly attributed to listeria.

“The leadership of the company is to be lauded for it,” said Grabowski, who has coordinated public relations in several recent food contamination cases, including the 2015 Bluebell Creameries recall. As with CRF, the Bluebell recall resulted from Listeria monocytogenes.

Impact on workers, vendors

The recall and related shutdown have already resulted in layoffs for nearly 250 employees and the company’s contract farmers.

Expenses are mounting as CRF hires a battalion of specialists to manage the logistics of recalling food, investigating the source, cleaning the plant and eventually securing federal Food and Drug Administration approval to restart the plant.

The company is hiring forensic teams, sanitation crews, attorneys, public relations experts and a team to staff its consumer hotline. It must also anticipate potential litigation and is responsible for collecting recalled products from its retail partners if they choose not to dispose of the items themselves.

CRF’s work extends well beyond identifying the source of listeria and re-sanitizing its plant, Grabowski said.

“A recall is very complicated and can be very costly,” he said.

Bluebell Creamery spent more than $100 million to manage its listeria outbreak, though Grabowski said CRF’s final bill is expected to be much lower.

While listeria was not listed as a cause of death in the CRF case, it can be a contributing factor. The median age of those sickened so far is 76, Grabowski said. There were no additional reports of illness as of Wednesday.

While listeria is not normally harmful to healthy people, it can sicken the young, elderly and those with compromised immune systems. It can be found in almost every household refrigerator, Grabowski said.

CRF contracts with local farms for the fruits and vegetables it processes into frozen and fresh brands carried by Trader Joe’s, Safeway and others.

Its Organic By Nature line is carried in Costco stores. It also operates a GMO-free food line and produces kosher and halal items.

Workers who have been laid off may be eligible for unemployment benefits until they are recalled to work, Grabowski said. Most employees will remain on the job or be reassigned to other duties while the plant remains closed.

The company retains about 180 employees at the plant.

The Washington Employment Security Department said it had not processed unemployment applications related to CRF, but is watching the situation.

A representative for the Franklin County Farm Bureau said the impact on growers appears limited because CRF contracts with only a few farmers.

Who is CRF?

CRF is affiliated with R.D. Offutt Co., a Fargo, N.D. agriculture and equipment giant with revenue of $2.5 billion in 2012, according to a profile of its founder in TheRichest.com and the most recent figure available for the privately-held company.

Federal court documents unrelated to the listeria case show CRF acquired assets of Bybee Foods in May 2013. Franklin County property records show the former Bybee food processing plant passed into CRF’s ownership in November 2014 in a transaction worth almost $10 million.

CRF has invested nearly $1.5 million in plant updates, according to building permit records. Nearly $1 million of that was associated with constructing a 10,440-square-foot building.

(Editor’s note: Employment figures in this story were updated after CRF corrected an earlier statement.)

This story was originally published May 11, 2016 at 7:03 PM with the headline "Recall puts Pasco frozen food plant on ice."