A federal consent decree in Minnesota bars Gold Star Distribution Inc. and its owner, Bassam Abu Samrah, from distributing food, drugs, and medical devices until the FDA confirms the company has eliminated persistent rodent infestation and other insanitary conditions at its Minneapolis warehouse.

The order follows a 2025 investigation by the FDA and the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA), working with the Minnesota Board of Pharmacy. Inspectors found conditions that put products at risk of contamination with filth.

The enforcement record behind the decree is long. The FDA had inspected the Gold Star facility five times before 2025, and the MDA inspected it 26 separate times between 2013 and 2025. Many of those visits cited insanitary conditions tied to rodents — live and dead rodents, gnaw marks, package damage, rodent excrement, and nesting materials throughout the building.

"Consumers trust that the products they purchase — whether food, medicine, or everyday household items — have been stored safely and are free from contamination," said Elizabeth Miller, FDA associate commissioner for inspections and investigations.

She added: "This consent decree makes clear that persistent failure to maintain basic sanitary conditions is unacceptable and will have consequences."

What did inspectors actually find?

During a follow-up FDA inspection in November and December 2025, the numbers were stark. Inspectors observed:

• Nine live rodents and 17 dead rodents in various states of decay
• Eight live birds, one dead bird, and five live worms
• Numerous rodent excreta pellets, urine stains, gnaw holes, and nesting materials in and around pallets of FDA-regulated products, including rice, cat food, drugs, sanitary pads, and cosmetics

FDA laboratory analyses confirmed rodent urine, urea, excreta, hairs, and gnaw holes in product packaging. Inspectors also documented leaking and overflowing refuse near outgoing shipments, gaps and holes in the building, ceiling leaks dripping onto stored products, and trash buildup outside the facility.

What enforcement already happened?

State regulators moved before the federal decree. In November 2025, the MDA twice issued notices of embargo and cease and desist orders covering all food products and operations, and revoked the defendants' food wholesale license. In December 2025, the Minnesota Board of Pharmacy issued its own cease and desist order for warehousing and distributing over-the-counter drugs without a required pharmacy license, and administratively detained those drugs.

Following the 2025 FDA inspection, Gold Star voluntarily recalled certain FDA-regulated products that may have been contaminated with filth.

What does the decree require before reopening?

The consent decree sets a concrete path back to operation, and the defendants pay for it. They must:

• Retain an independent expert to develop and implement FDA-approved sanitation control and drug storage plans
• Eliminate all pests and filth from the facility
• Complete facility renovations to prevent future pest entry
• Destroy all FDA-regulated products in their possession under FDA supervision
• Undergo comprehensive inspections by an independent expert, an independent pest control company, and the FDA as it deems necessary

Even after all that, the defendants need written notification from the FDA that they appear to be in compliance before they can resume operations.

For distributors and the operators who buy from them, the case is a reminder that repeated inspection failures now carry a clear endpoint: shutdown, supervised destruction of inventory, and a reopening gate controlled entirely by the regulator.