Whole Foods Plant With Drippy Ceiling Cited for Dirty Conditions

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is asking Whole Foods Market Inc. to resolve unsanitary conditions at a plant in Massachusetts where the agency found listeria and other serious food-safety violations during a series of inspections in February.

The FDA said in a warning letter that it observed an employee spraying ammonium sanitizer near an open colander of salad and that another worker’s “upper sleeves were frequently touching” leafy greens as they were packaged. The agency also said it saw ready-to-eat pesto pasta and mushrooms quesadillas being prepared in a room where ceiling joints were dripping and observed an employee assembling cartons and packing quinoa cakes without washing hands or changing gloves.