Lifesoy, a producer of soy-based food products in San Diego, will be taking a brief production hiatus until it raises its sanitary standards to the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) requirements. The FDA issued the permanent injunction Jun 2, halting production.

Unsweetened soy milk, fried tofu, fresh tofu and soybean pudding sat unrefrigerated in-house as well as in transit, allowing for the development of microorganisms. Lifesoy also failed to protect the food from contaminants such as pests (cats, rodents and insects), unclean workers and dirty water. During inspection, an inspector witnessed an employee splashing dirty cleaning water into a vat of processing food. Two years ago, the FDA sent a warning outlining necessary sanitation changes, but these requirements were not met in the recent inspection.

Before Lifesoy can recommence production it must implement an FDA approved sanitation program written by a qualified sanitation expert and pass a re-inspection of the facility.