
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, October 18, 1994                   TAG: 9410180090
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: GLOUCESTER                                LENGTH: Medium

GOVERNMENT, COMPANY BATTLE FOR CUSTODY OF SOGGY SCALLOPS

Federal authorities are suing thousands of pounds of sea scallops sitting in a Gloucester County freezer.

The charge? They were a little too wet.

The U.S. Attorney's Office filed the civil lawsuit Sept. 6 in U.S. District Court in Newport News. A federal marshal - with warrant in hand - was dispatched to the International Seafood Distributors Inc. distribution center in Gloucester County, where the mollusks have remained since they were seized in March.

The defendant in the case is noted clearly in the lawsuit's name: ``U.S.A. vs. 268 cases, more or less, of an article of food ... ''

``You can't bring criminal charges against the corporation, because you can't put a corporation in jail,'' said Jannie Bazemore, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Norfolk. ``That's why this is a civil matter, because in essence you have arrested a food product.''

Authorities say the scallops, weighing more than 6,400 pounds, violated water-content guidelines determined by the Food and Drug Administration and the scallop industry. The guidelines are supposed to prevent distributors from adding water to increase the product's weight.

The maximum water content is set at 84 percent. Testing by the FDA revealed the scallops contained between 85 percent and 87 percent water, officials said.

The violation was discovered in March during a routine inspection by the U.S. Department of Commerce, officials said. The scallops were marketed under the Ocean Classic brand name.

Unlike most civil lawsuits, the plaintiff in this case is not seeking monetary damages from the product's owner. Government officials don't even have to make a case that water may have been added to increase the scallops' weight.

``This is strictly against product,'' FDA Consumer Safety Officer Wiley Williamson said. ``We want to get those goods.''

International Seafood listed the scallops' value at $75,000, and asked the court to allow the company to market them overseas ``to mitigate the damages'' should the case drag on. The corporation argued that the government has failed to show that the mollusks pose a danger to consumers' health.

by CNB