THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, October 17, 1994 TAG: 9410170068
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Virginia News
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: GLOUCESTER LENGTH: Medium: 62 lines
Federal authorities are suing thousands of pounds of sea scallops sitting in a Gloucester County freezer.
The charge? They had a little too much water.
The U.S. attorney's office filed the civil lawsuit Sept. 6 in U.S. District Court in Newport News. A federal marshal - with warrant in hand - was dispatched to the International Seafood Distributors Inc. distribution center in Gloucester County, where the mollusks have been since they were seized in March.
The defendant in the case is clearly noted in the lawsuit's name: ``U.S.A. vs. 268 cases, more or less, of an article of food . . . ''
``You can't bring criminal charges against the corporation, because you can't put a corporation in jail,'' said Jannie Bazemore, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office in Norfolk. ``That's why this is a civil matter, because in essence you have arrested a food product.''
Authorities say the scallops, more than 6,400 pounds worth, violated water content guidelines set by the Food and Drug Administration and the scallop industry. The guidelines are supposed to guard against distributors from adding water to increase the product's weight.
The maximum water content is set at 84 percent. Testing by the FDA revealed the scallops contained between 85 percent and 87 percent water, officials said.
The violation was discovered in March during a routine inspection by the U.S. Department of Commerce, officials said. The scallops were marketed under the Ocean Classic brand name.
Unlike most civil lawsuits, the plaintiff in this case is not seeking monetary damages from the product's owner. Government officials don't even have to make a case that the water may have been added to increase the scallops' weight.
``This is strictly against product,'' FDA Consumer Safety Officer Wiley Williamson said. ``We want to get those goods.''
International Seafood, however, wants its goods back. The company has been prohibited from selling the scallops.
Company officials declined to comment on the lawsuit, but court documents filed by their attorneys claim the perishable product will be unfit for resale by December.
International Seafood listed the scallops' value at $75,000, and asked the court to allow the company to market them overseas ``to mitigate the damages'' should the case drag on. The corporation further argued that the government has failed to show that the mollusks pose a danger to consumers' health.
Federal officials said the company can get the scallops back if it comes up with a method for reconditioning the product to the government's satisfaction.
If the company chooses to litigate the case, the scallops' ownership could be decided in court.
KEYWORDS: CIVIL LAWSUIT SEAFOOD by CNB