United States Sues Philadelphia Food Distributor for Allegedly Selling Uninspected and Misbranded Poultry

PHILADELPHIA, PA – United States Attorney William M. McSwain announced today that his office has filed a lawsuit to stop Philadelphia food distributor Kawa Trading, Inc. (“Kawa”), and its president Chui Xun Liu, from continuing to violate federal food safety laws. Kawa’s most recent alleged violations include selling uninspected and misbranded poultry to two restaurants in Delaware and New Jersey.

The Food Safety and Inspection Service (“FSIS”) of the United States Department of Agriculture (“USDA”), is responsible for ensuring that meat, poultry, and egg products in commerce are wholesome, not adulterated, and properly marked, labeled, and packaged. The Poultry Products Inspection Act (“PPIA”) prohibits companies and individuals from selling, transporting, offering for sale or transportation, or receiving for transportation misbranded or uninspected poultry that is capable of use as human food. The Complaint alleges that Kawa received and sold multiple unlabeled and uninspected cases of poultry products in December 2017 and January 2018.

Kawa has a long history of violating the PPIA as well as another federal food safety law—the Federal Meat Inspection Act (“FMIA”), which similarly prohibits the sale or transportation of misbranded or uninspected meat products. Kawa’s violations of both the PPIA and the FMIA date back to 2013, and the USDA has warned Kawa numerous times about its violations.

“Food safety is a critical component of public health,” said U.S. Attorney McSwain. “We will not tolerate violations of federal food safety laws and will work with our partner agency, the USDA, to do all that we can to ensure that businesses safely handle the food we eat.”

“We allege that, despite numerous warnings, the company continued to violate food safety laws,” said Carmen Rottenberg, Administrator of FSIS. “Today’s action shows that FSIS investigators are upholding the Agency’s mission to protect public health and ensure a safe food supply.”

The United States’ lawsuit seeks to permanently enjoin Kawa from committing any further violations of the PPIA or FMIA.

The Complaint filed in this matter contains allegations only; there has been no determination of civil liability.

The case is being litigated by Assistant United States Attorney Stacey L. B. Smith, with assistance from Tracy McGowan, USDA Trial Attorney.