Suppose you were a cattle dealer and the US Food and Drug Administration, one of the federal agencies tasked with keep the food supply safe issued you a court order, twice, prohibiting you from putting your product into the food supply until you complied with a legally required record keeping system. The agency had their eye on you because the meat you produced had been found repeatedly to have illegal levels of antibiotics making it unfit for human consumption. But you didn't care and you violated the court orders. So the FDA went after you and you were found in criminal and civil contempt for introducing adulterated food into the food supply. I guess you would be expecting to be in a world of hurt.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced today that a West Virginia cattle dealer has been sentenced to six months probation for refusing to obey court orders in 2006 and 2008 that prohibited her from introducing animals into the food supply until the FDA had approved her record-keeping system.[snip]
Under terms of her probation, [Shirley A. ] Rhodes is barred for six months from purchasing, selling, obtaining, or transferring any animals that may be used as human food. After that date, she is prohibited from these activities until the FDA approves her written record-keeping system. (FDA Press Release)
That's some Tough Love. I'm sure Mr. Rhodes' knuckles are really smarting.
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It should be clarified that it was a U.S. District Court Judge that administered this rap on the knuckles, not the FDA on its own.
commenter: You are correct, but one usually assumes that the US attorney and the FDA had something to say about the sentence.
But this time it might not be repeatable in polite company. Certainly not from those in the FDA who investigated the case.