Federal regulators found “serious violations” with Santa Monica-based Pressed Juicery’s Fresno production facility and its Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) plan, according to a letter sent to the company last week.
The Food and Drug Administration’s review of Pressed’s facility was completed in October 2015 at which time multiple issues were discovered. Despite a response from Pressed in November, the FDA found the company had not satisfactorily addressed its concerns. The agency gave pressed 15 days to respond to the warning letter dated March 23.
“[Y]our juice products are adulterated in that they have been prepared, packed, or held under insanitary conditions whereby they may have been rendered injurious to health,” the FDA’s letter reads.
Pressed said in a statement that the FDA letter addressed general issues with its juice when left unrefrigerated and was not directly related to specific violations found at its production facility.
“The FDA’s warning letter is directed at the potential risks when our products are not refrigerated,” the statement reads. “(T)he FDA has no health or safety issues with our products when refrigerated as directed on our product labels. The FDA’s statement concerning insanitary conditions is standard language in similar warning letters and is not a specific finding concerning Pressed Juicery’s manufacturing facility.”
The company also said it works closely with the FDA and will continue to do so to address any concerns.
The agency’s letter also points out the company uses “high hydrostatic pressure” – a term synonymous with high-pressure processing (HPP) – to treat its juice.
While Pressed previously referred to its production methods as “proprietary,” the company recently added a section on its website detailing its decision to use HPP, which has been a controversial treatment in the juicing community.
Pressed has quickly grown from a small, local juice shop started by three friends in 2011 to a retail behemoth with more than 30 stores in five states. The company has also partnered with Equinox Gyms in New York and Costco Wholesale Corp. in Vancouver.
