Federal regulators sue to close pest-infested Minneapolis food warehouse
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Federal officials are suing to force the closure of a pest-infested food warehouse in Minneapolis.
The lawsuit comes after several reports of sanitation issues at Gold Star Distribution, a food company based in north Minneapolis. After an inspection late last year, the company recalled a long list of products, including canned goods, pet food, over-the-counter medications and other grocery items.
Investigators with the Food and Drug Administration had found a slew of pests in the building during the 2025 inspection. According to the lawsuit, they reported nine live rodents, 17 dead rodents “in various states of decay,” several live birds and worms in the building. They also found gaps in walls and leaks in the ceiling.
Gold Star Distribution was selling those products to several corner stores and shops around Minnesota, and some in other states. Most stores are in the Twin Cities area.
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The FDA said those pests in the warehouse could have spread salmonella and other illnesses, though there were no reports of illnesses from customers.
Owner Bassam Abu Samrah informed regulators at the time that he had plans to renovate the facility and would consider relocating if renovations couldn’t fix the problems.
But officials said in the lawsuit that those plans won’t do enough to ensure safety in the long run.
“Defendants’ responses failed to provide an adequate pest control plan, including monitoring procedures, and provided no evidence of any structural changes at the facility or plans to relocate,” officials wrote in the lawsuit.
The 2025 inspection followed several previous inspections, dating back to 2012, that found sanitation issues in the building.
Officials also noted in the lawsuit that Samrah’s son had recently received a wholesale license in Minnesota under the business name North Star Distribution. The lawsuit asks a judge to bar any of the company’s employees and “any and all persons in active concert or participation with any of them” from continuing business at the warehouse without bringing it into compliance.
Samrah and an attorney representing him did not respond to requests for comment.
In July, the business told regulators that it planned to shut down operations in August. But the lawsuit alleges that the warehouse still holds food, medications and other goods.
Samrah has signed an agreement this week with federal officials promising to stop all distribution. The agreement outlines several conditions, should Samrah ever attempt to reopen the business. He would need to retain a sanitation expert who would help ensure that the facility is in compliance with federal regulations, and regulators would need to approve pest control plans for the facility.
That agreement has been submitted to the court and is now awaiting a judge’s signature.
