Miami stone crab seller doesn’t control pathogenic bacteria growth, inspection says
A Miami stone crab seller that promises claws from the sea to your door in 24 hours disregarded procedures to prohibit their crabs and caviar from being bacteria boats, a state inspection said.
Also, RDO Fisheries, which does business as George Stone Crab, does business without a food permit or registering with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
State records say authorized member Roger Duarte registered RDO with the state on May 22, 2023. Duarte remains RDO’s official agent and authorized person.
Here’s some of what Florida Department of Agriculture inspector Raymond Collada found when he stopped by 3615 NW 46th St., a pocket of unincorporated Miami-Dade County, on Jan. 14:
▪ “Your monitoring procedures at Receiving for decomposed stone crab claws by visual checks does not ensure accurate monitoring procedures for product temperature as required to control the hazard for pathogen bacteria growth.”
▪ “Your HACCP plan for cooked stone crabs does not list a critical control point of storage to control the hazard pathogen bacteria growth.” As in “stone crabs were found inside the walk-in cooler, and the reefer completely covered with ice.”
The “reefer” is food industry shorthand for “refrigerated container,” the kind used when shipping food needs to be kept at a low temperature.
“HACCP” stands for “Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points” and, the FDA explains, it’s a system for keeping food safe “through the analysis and control of biological, chemical, and physical hazards from raw material production, procurement and handling, to manufacturing, distribution and consumption of the finished product.”
▪ There also wasn’t a HACCP plan for controlling pathogen bacterial growth among the fresh caviar George Stone Crab was receiving and storing.
▪ George also hasn’t been registered with the FDA “as required prior to beginning operations” and, on the state level “is operating without a food permit prior to beginning food operations.”
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▪ George’s sanitation monitoring records “do not reflect conditions found during the visit, specifically for hand washing and protection of food.”
▪ The handwash station in the packing room for ready-to-eat cooked stone crabs didn’t have hand sanitizer.
▪ When Inspector Collada asked for supplier source invoices for George Stone Crab mustard sauce and the butter sauce, “no invoices were provided.”
▪ The mustard sauce and butter sauce label lacked ingredients, weight, manufacturer and distributor information. Stop Sales hit 357 8-ounce packages of the mustard sauce and 69 8-ounce packages of the butter sauce.
This story was originally published January 21, 2025 at 4:23 PM.
