PORTLAND — Portland Shellfish Co. President and founder Jeffrey Holden said the company has resumed processing operations that were voluntarily shut down for a few days pending an inspection by federal regulators.
 

11:53 a.m.

PORTLAND — A federal judge has still not signed a legal agreement between the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Portland Shellfish Co. about food safety violations at the seafood processor’s plants.

The proposed consent decree was filed Jan. 4 in U.S. District Court when the company shut down for a final inspection by federal regulators. It is not clear whether the company, which employs about 150 people, has resumed operations.

Jeffrey Holden, president and founder of the 35-year-old company, has not returned phone calls or responded to e-mails. The company’s website is out of order.

The court action followed four recalls stemming from two episodes of contamination by the bacteria Listeria monocytogenes of cooked lobster meat since 2008. The bacteria causes listeriosis, a potentially fatal disease for high-risk groups such as newborns and elderly people.

The court documents charged the company with repeated violations of federal safety laws. Holden said earlier this month that he had made sanitation improvements at the company’s crab processing plant on Dartmouth Street in South Portland and lobster and shrimp plant on Waldron Way in Portland that meet or surpass federal standards.

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