Christian Rivas, Distributing Contaminated Cheese, Florida 2023

A Miami-Dade County resident has been sentenced to 15 months in prison for distributing contaminated cheese.

Christian Rivas, the owner of Oasis Brands, Inc. (“Oasis”), located in Miami, Florida, previously pled guilty to a two-count criminal Information.

Pursuant to Count 1, a felony, Rivas, with the intent to defraud and mislead, delivered cheese processed and packed at the Oasis facility into interstate commerce that was “adulterated . . . in that it contained listeria monocytogenes (“listeria”) a deleterious substance, which may render the food injurious to health,” in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Section 331(a) and 333(a)(2).

Pursuant to Count 2, a misdemeanor, Rivas, as the responsible corporate official of Oasis, delivered cheese into interstate commerce, “which was prepared, packed and held [at the Oasis facility] under insanitary conditions whereby it may have been rendered injurious to health,” in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Section 331(a) and 333(a)(1).

“Consumer protection is a top priority for the U.S. Attorney’s Office,” stated U.S. Attorney Wifredo Ferrer. “The Southern District of Florida will continue to work with the FDA to identify for prosecution cases where consumers are exposed to the risk of serious harm from contaminated food purchased in the marketplace, while being fraudulently led to believe that it is safe.”

On July 26, 2014, the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services had alerted the FDA to the fact that cheese supplied by Oasis and located at a Virginia grocery store had been randomly sampled and had tested positive for the presence of listeria. A resulting FDA inspection of the Oasis processing facility revealed “numerous failures to comply with current Good Manufacturing Practice federal regulatory standards,” as well as several environmental swab samples taken from within the facility which tested positive for the presence of listeria.

The court record indicates that subsequent to the first inspection and during the period September 24, 2014 through October 1, 2014, Rivas had, in violation of his agreement with the FDA, finished packaging multiple trays of cheese then held in-processing and had gone on to ship and distribute these items.

The case was announced by Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Justin Green, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Office of Criminal Investigations (FDA-OCI), Miami Field Office.

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