Bad reaction to contaminated seafood
A Boynton Beach businessman knew the seafood products he had shipped to retailers from his Lantana office in 2003 were contaminated but didn’t tell customers or ask for a recall, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said today. Timothy DeLong, president of Atlantis Foods Inc., also sold misbranded products, claiming a fish spread contained rainbow trout when it was made with tuna, according to information filed in federal court. DeLong was charged in federal court today with defrauding customers and selling misbranded food. Federal investigators learned that DeLong shipped orders of seafood spreads and chicken salad in 2003 without testing them for contaminants, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. And after he learned that shipments of lobster dip, chicken salad, salmon cream cheese and crab stuffing were contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes - a dangerous bacteria that can cause severe gastrointestinal infection and has proven fatal in babies and the elderly - he didn’t warn his customers, investigators said. If convicted, DeLong faces up to 20 years in prison and fines of $250,000. A representative of Atlantis Foods, headquartered at 420 Whitney Ave. in Lantana, couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.