25919. Rice.   (Inj. No. 333.)
COMPLAINT FOR INJUNCTION FILED : 4-25-58, N. Dist. Oalif., against M. D. Green 
Rice Milling Co., a corporation, maintaining an office at San Francisco, Calif.,
" and operating a rice milling plant at Merritt Station, Yolo County, :Calif., and
•against C. R. Osborne, superintendent of the corporation's Merritt Station
plant, and M. S. Green, vice-president and office manager of the corporation.
?See also
into"sV25975, 25985.
CHARGE:' The eomplainib alleged that the defendants were engaged in the busi- 
ness of storing, milling, preparing and distributing rice, -and that they had 
been and were causing to be introduced and delivered for introduction into 
interstate commerce, such rice which was adulterated under 402(a)(3) 
because of the presence therein of rodent urine* rodent hairs andjnsects, and
' under 402(a) (4) because it had been prepared, packed, and held under insani- 
tary conditions.
The complaint alleged further that the insanitary conditions in the 
defendants' Merritt Station plant resulted from and consisted of the storage 
of rough rice in a building with ill-fitting doors and holes in the tin sheeting 
siding through which rodents could enter the building; the presence of 
numerous rodent tracks and rodent excreta pellets on the, surface of the rough, 
rice; excreta of either dog or eat origin in the aeration tunnels leading into 
the center of the piles of rough rice; the presence in the rice mill of mold 
along the undersurfaee of the covering to the conveyor lines; the presence of 
insects, insect fragments, insect larvae, pupae, webbing, frass, and cocoons in 
and about the conveyor lines throughout the .rice mill; the presence of fruit 
. flies on the surface of the coating "sirup" contained in a tank in the mill's 
coating department; rodent tracks and pellets in and around the raw talc 
material used in coating the rice; the presence of live moths, moth larvae and 
cocoons inside the sacking-off bins which held the finished rice, including 
coated and uncoated whole rice, second head rice and brewers rice; the 
presence of rodent nests and rodent-gnawed bags among the bags of finished 
rice stored in the mill, and rodent excreta pellets and rodent urine on the bags 
of finished rice.
The complaint alleged also that the defendants were well aware that their 
activities were in violation of the law; that inspections of the defendants' 
Merritt Station plant were made on October 10, 1956, August 7,1957, and on 
February 27 and 28,1958, by inspectors of the Food and Drug Administration 
at which times the defendants were informed of the insanitary conditions; 
and that despite such warnings the defendants failed, to correct the insanitary 
conditions in the plant and continued to introduce adulterated rice into 
interstate commerce. "
DISPOSITION: On April 25, 1958, the court entered a temporary restraining 
order against the defendants enjoining them from directly or indirectly caus- 
ing to be introduced and delivered for introduction into Interstate commerce, 
rice or any similar article which was adulterated by reason of the. presence 
therein of rodent urine, rodent hairs, or insects, or because of the preparation,
,    packing or holding of such article under insanitary conditions.
[, - The temporary restraining order also enjoined the defendants against caus- 
ing the introduction or delivery for introduction into interstate commerce, of
rice or any similar article prepared, packed, or held at the defendants' Merritt
'   Station plant unless and until:
(a) the plant was thoroughly cleaned, renovated, and rendered suitable for 
the preparation, packing, and holding of food for humaii consumption by
: , eliminating all rodent, insect, dog, and cat filth from the plant, cleaning the 
equipment, closing the means of ingress and egress of the plant by rodents 
and insects, and eliminating any similar insanitary conditions which may 
result in the contamination of food in the plant;
(b) all of the rice on hand at the plant at the time it was cleaned, renovated, 
and rendered suitable for the storage of food for human consumption was
destroyed, denatured for use as animal feed, or cleaned and otherwise 
reconditioned under the supervision of the Food and Drug Administration; 
and
(c) an inspection was made of the plant by the Food and Drug Administra- 
tion and a report made to the court that the above-mentioned insanitary 
conditions no longer existed, and that the rice described in subparagraph (b), 
above, had been destroyed, denatured, or brought into compliance with the 
law. 
Pursuant to agreement of the parties, an order was entered by the court
which continued the temporary restraining order in effect until February 15,
1960.