FDA Court Order Halts Minnesota Warehouse After Persistent Rodent and Pest Contamination

A federal court has entered a permanent injunction against Minnesota warehouse operator Gold Star Distribution and its owner after U.S. regulators documented persistent insanitary conditions involving rodents, birds and other contamination risks in a facility holding food and other FDA-regulated products.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced the action on September 23, following a September 21 consent decree in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota. The order prevents the company and associated persons from receiving, holding for sale or distributing regulated products from current or future locations until the operation satisfies federal requirements and the terms of the decree.

Years of sanitation findings preceded the injunction

The FDA said it had inspected the Gold Star facility five times before its 2025 inspection, while the Minnesota Department of Agriculture conducted 26 inspections between 2013 and 2025. Regulators repeatedly cited rodent-related sanitation problems including live and dead rodents, excrement, gnaw marks, damaged packaging and nesting materials.

During a follow-up inspection in November and December 2025, FDA investigators reported nine live rodents, 17 dead rodents, eight live birds, one dead bird and five live worms in the facility, along with rodent excreta, urine stains, gnaw holes and nesting materials around pallets of regulated goods. FDA laboratory work also confirmed evidence of rodent contamination on product packaging.

Food storage and distribution are regulatory control points

The case is significant beyond a single warehouse because food safety controls do not end when manufacturing is complete. Warehouses and distributors can become contamination points when pest exclusion, sanitation, building maintenance and product-storage controls fail.

The complaint alleged that food, drugs, medical devices and cosmetics became adulterated while held for sale after interstate shipment. Products stored at the site included rice, cat food and other FDA-regulated goods. The facility had already been subject to state embargo and cease-and-desist actions, and Gold Star previously recalled regulated products that may have been exposed to contamination.

What must happen before operations can resume

The consent decree requires the defendants to retain an independent expert, develop FDA-approved sanitation and drug-storage plans, eliminate pests and filth, complete facility renovations intended to prevent pest entry, destroy regulated products in their possession under FDA supervision and undergo inspections before resuming operations.

Operations cannot restart until the FDA provides written notification that the company appears to be in compliance. For food and agribusiness operators, the enforcement action is a reminder that warehousing conditions, pest-control documentation and supplier-distribution oversight can carry the same regulatory consequences as failures on a production line.

Primary source: U.S. Food and Drug Administration, press announcement dated September 23, 2026.