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• Feds seize food from Ellsworth food outlet

ELLSWORTH -- Over 1,500 cases of food were seized by U.S. Marshals Tuesday from Mid-States Closeouts, the warehouse distribution center located at the old junior high school building in Ellsworth.

This information was announced Wednesday afternoon in a news release from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The products, both human and animal food, were seized under a warrant issued by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin.

The release states that during a FDA inspection of Mid-States Closeouts conducted in November, the agency found widespread and active rodent infestation, numerous gnawed packages of human and animal food, rodent excreta pellets on, in, and around food packages and rodent nesting material. The facility also had structural defects permitting easy pest access to the entire facility, and rodent harborage areas near the warehouse.

"The violations at Mid-States Closeouts are widespread and significant," said Michael Chappell, the FDA's acting associate commissioner, Office of Regulatory Affairs. "The FDA took this action because the company failed to provide adequate safeguards to ensure that products they hold for sale remain free of contamination."

The release also mentions that the FDA has not received any reports of human or pet illness or death associated with consumption of food distributed by Mid-States Closeouts. The products were in permeable packages and held under conditions that could compromise the food's quality.

The U.S. Marshals were on hand Tuesday at the request of the FDA. Ellsworth police assisted the two agencies on site.

Only a day earlier, Ellsworth village trustees had expressed their displeasure and exasperation with the building's owner over non-compliance with local ordinances.

The building is currently being used as a warehouse to store supplies used in dollar stores. The owner, Mark Reisdorf of Mid-States Closeouts based in the Twin Cities, had planned on opening a dollar store branch in the building and renovating it to provide living quarters for his family as well.

Board members and Village Public Works Director Greg Engeset allege Reisdorf has not lived up to agreements he made with the village to clean up the property, including hauling away trash and removing old semi-trailers.

"He says he's having money problems. He says he can't move the trailers because the brakes are frozen or whatever other reason he can come up with," Engeset said. "He's complaining that other businesses in town aren't following the same ordinances either. But the bottom line is he is not living up to the agreements he made with the board, which allowed him to have the site zoned commercial."