State Officials Say Produce Distributor Violated Law

The North County fruit and vegetable distributor accused by others in his industry of marketing falsely labeled organic carrots is in violation of state law because he can’t prove his carrots are grown chemical-free, the state Department of Health Services has concluded.

The owner of the company, Carroll McNab, denies the charges and said Thursday that the paper work that will vindicate him hasn’t yet reached the health department in Sacramento.

The brouhaha over whether the carrots are organic--an issue taken seriously by health food retailers and their customers--surfaced last month, with reports of retailers along the West Coast pulling carrots from their shelves because of suspicion that they were not organic.

The carrots were suspect because some looked “too perfect” to be organic, and because an employee from a competing firm claimed she saw evidence suggesting that carrots were being taken out of bags from commercial, nonorganic farms and being repackaged as organic.

State officials on Thursday released a notice of violation they sent Pacific Organic Produce on June 15, accusing the family-owned company in Rainbow of being unable to substantiate its claims that its carrots are organic. The violation can be prosecuted as a criminal misdemeanor, officials say.

Investigators also found other produce in the firm’s inventory--avocados, oranges, grapefruit, kumquats, limes and watermelons--without accompanying documentation that they are organic.

McNab said the necessary documentation that would have proven to state auditors that his produce is grown on organic farms was stolen from his office several weeks before the state audit of his books.

Since then, however, he has tracked down the necessary documentation from his various growers and has mailed it to the Department of Health Services, although Sacramento officials say they have not yet received it.

In addition to the issue over whether the produce is organic, investigators further charged that McNab’s company “has been operating under conditions whereby the produce held could become contaminated.”

Among the department’s findings:

- More than 150 flies and 100 spiders were seen in the fruit-sorting and storage areas. McNab said he is the victim of a nearby chicken ranch, and that he could spray his plant with insecticide if his was not an organic operation.

- Rodents could proliferate in the boxes, pallets, trash and tall grass alongside the building, and had easy access to the fruit-sorting and storage areas. McNab said some of the problem rests with his landlord, and that holes allowing rodents access into his buildings were there because he is rebuilding part of his operation. The day of the inspection, he said, some wall panels had not yet been replaced.

- Trash and rotting and molding fruit were on the floor of the sorting area. McNab said rotting and molding fruit--including navel oranges, which are particularly susceptible to “blue mold” under certain conditions--is culled from his bins and refrigerators daily and that his workers sometimes miss the trash bin when they discard the fruit. But the floor is cleaned nightly, he said.

- Oranges were exposed to a variety of chemicals used by employees, including bug spray, prescription drugs and over-the-counter cold medication, as well as exposed to fiberglass insulation, based on what was found in the working areas. McNab said a particular prescription drug was taped to one of his machines specifically so it can be administered quickly to one of his employees, who suffers from seizures.

Frank J. Nava, chief of the field operations section of the department’s Food and Drug Branch, ordered McNab to respond to the violations notice within 10 days with his plans and timetable for corrective actions. McNab said the letter would be mailed today.

In his notice, Nava said McNab was able to identify the source of his fruits and vegetables. But “the records do not . . . identify the produce as having been produced under conditions” set by state law describing the criteria for being labeled ‘organic.’ ”

“Since the actual growing conditions are not substantiated by adequate records, you are directed to immediately stop labeling produce as being ‘organic’ or ‘organically grown’ unless you have written substantiation from the grower or certification from a person or organization other than yourself,” Nava wrote.

Organic growers are required by law to substantiate their claims with documentation about the location of their crops and what soil additives are used.

Distributors are, in turn, required to have on file similar documentation from their produce sources.

McNab said Thursday that state inspectors also checked some of his fruit at a Los Angeles retail store for chemicals, and that the tests were negative.