Feds Seize Possibly Contaminated Crab Products

Federal officials have seized thousands of cases of frozen crab products suspected to be contaminated with a harmful bacteria.

U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Carmen Ortiz said the cases of food, which were in cold storage warehouses in Lakeville, Mass., were manufactured by Rome Packing Company, a firm formerly based in East Providence, R.I. but now in receivership.

Her office says the products were prepared, packed, and processed in a facility contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, a bacteria that it says can sometimes cause life-threatening illness.

Ortiz's office says the federal Food and Drug Administration inspected Rome's facility on six times, finding poor sanitary practices and conditions that did not adequately control temperatures to prevent the growth of pathogens. Environmental swab samples also tested positive for Listeria monocytogenes.