Court-Approved Decree Establishes Safeguards to Protect the Public from the Sale of Meat and Poultry Products that Have Not Been Properly Inspected and Approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture 

Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, announced today that the United States has entered into a consent decree barring USA Halal Foods, Inc., also known as As-Salaam Halal and Fine Foods Wholesale Distributors (USA Halal Foods), and its President, Kashiif Saeed (Saeed), from offering for sale or transporting any misbranded meat or poultry products to the general public. 

“Consumers deserve confidence that the food they purchase is properly inspected and safe to eat,” stated United States Attorney Peace.  “We have, and will continue, to enforce food safety laws that hold food distributors accountable to the required standards and protect the public from misbranded products.”

The consent decree, approved April 18, 2023 by United States District Judge LaShann DeArcy Hall, requires USA Halal Foods and Saeed to keep records that fully and accurately disclose the offer for sale or transportation or other transactions of meat and poultry products.

The decree also provides for escalating monetary fines if USA Halal Foods violates the Federal Meat Inspection Act (FMIA) and the Poultry Products Inspection Act (PPIA). 

The court-ordered relief resolves a lawsuit filed on April 11, 2023.  According to the complaint, the government’s claims arose from several investigations conducted by the Food Safety and Inspection Service of the United States Department of Agriculture (FSIS).  These investigations revealed that between 2017 and 2022, USA Halal Foods and Saeed repeatedly offered for sale or transportation goat, lamb, beef and chicken products that were misbranded and not federally inspected and passed, and failed to keep and maintain records that fully and accurately disclosed all transactions.

The FMIA and PPIA prohibit the sale, transportation, offer for sale or transportation, or receipt for transportation, in commerce, of meat or meat and poultry products that are misbranded or that have not been inspected and passed by FSIS when inspection is required.  Meat and poultry products are “misbranded” under the FMIA and PPIA if, among other things, the products fail to bear a label showing the name and place of business of the manufacturer, packer, or distributor, an accurate statement of the quantity of the contents in terms of weight, measure, or numerical count, and the inspection legend.  Businesses that engage in buying, selling, or transporting meat or poultry products must also keep records that fully and accurately disclose their business transactions and afford FSIS access to such records. 

This case is being handled by Assistant United States Attorney Kevin Yim from the Office’s Civil Division. 

In March 2022, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York announced a Consumer Protection Team in the Office’s Civil Division.  The Consumer Protection Team pursues all appropriate measures to stop culpable entities and individuals that engage in conduct threatening the health, safety, economic security, or dignity of potentially vulnerable individuals.  For more information on the U.S. Attorney’s Office, or to report suspected consumer fraud, please visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-edny. 

The Defendants:

USA HALAL FOODS, INC.

KASHIIF SAEED

E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 23-CV-2689 (LDH)

Original source can be found here.