South Asian Food Inc.

WARNING LETTER South Asian Food Inc. MARCS-CMS 728657 — August 20, 2026 More Warning Letters Warning Letters About Warning and Close-Out Letters Delivery Method: VIA ELECTRONIC DELIVERY Product: Food & Beverages Recipient: Recipient Name Mr. MohammedS.Kahn Recipient Title CEO South Asian Food Inc. 56-27 56th Dr. Maspeth , NY 11378 United States info@safoodinc.com Issuing Office: Human Foods Program United States August 20, 2026 WARNING LETTER Re: CMS #728657 Dear Mr. Mohammed S. Kahn: The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) conducted an inspection of your facilities, located at 56-27 56th Drive, Maspeth, NY 11378, (b)(4) between March 2, through March 9, 2026. During our inspection, the FDA investigator found serious violations of the seafood Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) regulation, Title 21, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 123 (21 CFR Part 123). The specific requirements for imported fish and fishery products are set out in 21 CFR 123.12. As an importer of fish or fishery products, you must operate in accordance with the requirements of Part 123. In accordance with 21 CFR 123.12(d), there must be evidence that all fish and fishery products offered for entry into the United States have been processed under conditions that comply with 21 CFR Part 123. If assurances do not exist that the imported fish or fishery product has been processed under conditions that are equivalent to those required of domestic processors under 21 CFR Part 123, the fish or fishery products will appear to be adulterated under section 402(a)(4) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (the Act), 21 U.S.C. § 342(a)(4) and will be denied entry (see 21 CFR 123.12(d)) . Because our inspection identified serious violations for 21 CFR Part 123, and assurances do not exist that these imported products have been processed under conditions that comply with 21 CFR Part 123, your imported dried seafood products are adulterated under section 402(a)(4) of the Act (21 U.S.C. § 342(a)(4), in that they have been prepared, packed, or held under insanitary conditions whereby they may have been rendered injurious to health. You may find the Act, the seafood HACCP regulation, and the June 2022 4th Edition of the Fish and Fisheries Products Hazards & Controls Guidance (the Hazards Guide) through links in FDA’s home page at www.fda.gov. At the conclusion of the inspection, the FDA investigator issued your facility a Form FDA 483 (FDA-483), Inspectional Observations, listing the deviations found at your firm. After reviewing the inspectional findings, we are issuing this letter to advise you of FDA’s concerns and to provide detailed information describing the findings at your facility. Seafood HACCP Violations (21 CFR 123) Your significant violations are as follows: 1. As a seafood importer, you must have and implement written verification procedures and an affirmative step which ensures that the fish and fishery product(s) you import are processed in accordance with the seafood HACCP regulation, to comply with 21 CFR 123.12(a)(2). Such procedures must at a minimum include product specifications that are designed to ensure the product is not adulterated under section 402 of the Act because it may be injurious to health or have been processed under insanitary conditions, and affirmative steps as specified in 21 CFR 123.12(a)(2)(ii). However, you do not have, nor have you implemented, written verification procedures that include such affirmative steps for vacuum packed ready-to-eat (RTE) Anchovy with Chilli ( Stolephorus indicus ), vacuum packed RTE Lotia Bombay Duck with Chilli ( Harpadon nehereus ) and RTE vacuum packed Golden Dried Shrimp with Chilli, Garlic, & Onion ( Metapenaeus ensis ) manufactured by a (b)(4) located in (b)(4) . These products have a process related hazard of Clostridium Botulinum . On March 9, 2026, an Investigator observed the above referenced products in your warehouse, located at (b)(4) , which was maintained at an ambient temperature of (b)(4) ° Fahrenheit. Due to the lack of import verification documentation from the supplier, you could not provide assurance that the hazard of Clostridium botulinum is being controlled at the foreign facility so that these products may be safely stored at ambient temperatures. Furthermore, the label on each of these products includes contradictory storage instructions. Each label includes the statement “Keep In Room Temperature. Keep Frozen**Store at (-18°C).” Your written response dated March 23, 2026, did not include any evidence to demonstrate that you have established affirmative steps to ensure that the above-mentioned RTE vacuum packed fish, or any other seafood your firm imports, are processed in accordance with the seafood HACCP regulations found in 21 CFR Part 123. 2. You must monitor sanitation conditions and practices during processing 1 with sufficient frequency to ensure, at a minimum, conformance with those conditions and practices specified in subpart B of 21 CFR part 117 (CGMP regulations) that are both appropriate to the plant and the food being processed and, in relevant part, relate to the exclusion of pests from the food plant (21 CFR 123.11(b)). However, you do not take effective measures to exclude pests from the holding areas and to protect against the contamination of food on the premises by pests, as required by 21 CFR 117, Subpart B. Specifically, the following was observed on March 2, 2026: a. A cat was observed roaming between rows of pallets containing food in your warehouse located at (b)(4) . b. An open bag of dry cat food, several open cans of cat food, cat litter and a cat litter box with apparent mammal excreta was observed in your warehouse located at (b)(4) . c. The warehouse doors to each of your (b)(4) ambient warehouse facilities were kept open with damaged (b)(4) curtains in the doorways. The warehouse doors open to outside of the facilities and lack any other means to prevent egress of pests and rodents. Each warehouse contained varieties of spices, rice, RTE biscuits, toast, and cookies. Your written response dated March 23, 2026 included a “STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE (SOP)” entitled “Warehouse Cleaning Procedure”. This procedure does not address excluding pests from your facility. Furthermore, your response does not address how you intend to remove the cats from your food warehouse. The violations cited in this letter are not intended to be an all-inclusive list of violations that may exist at your facility in connection with your operations. You are responsible for investigating and determining the causes of any violations and for preventing their recurrence or the occurrence of other violations. It is your responsibility to ensure that your facility complies with all requirements of federal law, including applicable FDA regulations. Additionally, we offer the following comment: To comply with 21 CFR 123.10, your HACCP plan must be developed by an individual who has successfully completed training in the application of HACCP principles to fish and fishery product processing that is at least equivalent to that received under standardized curriculum recognized as adequate by the FDA or who is otherwise qualified through job experience to perform these functions. Job experience will qualify an individual to perform these functions if it has provided knowledge at least equivalent to that provided through the standardized curriculum. Your written response dated March 23, 2026, included photographs of your enrollment in a training course titled “ (b)(4) ” offered by (b)(4) and a “Receipt from (b)(4) ” for “Enrollment in course (b)(4) ”. It is unclear if either of these training courses include training specific to the FDA’s Seafood HACCP regulations found in 21 CFR Part 123. This letter notifies you of our concerns and provides you with an opportunity to address them. We may take further action if you do not promptly correct these violations. For instance, we may take further action to refuse admission of your imported fish or fishery products under section 801(a) of the Act (21 U.S.C. § 381(a)), including placing them on "detention without physical examination," seize your product(s) and/or enjoin your firm from further violating the Act. Please notify FDA in writing within fifteen (15) working days of the receipt of this letter of the specific steps and corrections you have taken to address any violations. Include an explanation of each step being taken to prevent the recurrence of violations, as well as copies of related documentation. If you cannot complete all corrections within fifteen (15) days, state the reason for the delay and the time within which you will do so. If you believe that your products are not in violation of the Act, include your reasoning and any supporting information for our consideration. Please send your reply electronically to HFP-OCE-ConventionalFoods@fda.hhs.gov, copying Daniel Johnson, Compliance Officer, at Daniel.Johnson@fda.hhs.gov. If you have any questions regarding any issues in this letter, please contact Daniel Johnson via email at: Daniel.Johnson@fda.hhs.gov. Please refer to CMS #728657 on any submissions within the subject line of any email correspondence to the agency. Sincerely, /S/ Maria S. Knirk, JD MBA Director Office of Enforcement Office of Compliance and Enforcement Human Foods Program _________________________ 1 As defined in 21 CFR 123.3(k)(1), processing includes storing with respect to fish and fishery products and your facility engages in storing fish and fishery products. Content current as of: 09/29/2026 Regulated Product(s) Food & Beverages