If you’re hankering for ham and cheese croissants or pork pate chaud from Lee’s Sandwiches, you’ll have to wait awhile.
The federal investigation into the popular Vietnamese sandwich chain — which first opened in San Jose in 1983 — has now prompted the company to double its recall of beef, pork and chicken to almost 441,000 pounds. The probe was launched after federal food safety inspectors said the Garden Grove firm that operates as Lee’s Sandwiches had been falsely using a USDA mark of inspection for years.
Company officials could not be reached for comment Friday, but USDA spokesman Chris Bernstein said LQNN, the Garden Grove firm, does not have any other USDA violations.
A spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service said last week’s initial recall of products between May 18, 2014 and May 18 of this year has now been extended through May 26. The USDA now believes the problem actually began in late May 2011.
“Because the recall is under investigation, we do want to make sure that we are protecting the public in the states that are affected,” said spokeswoman Alexandra Tarrant on Friday.
The USDA last week announced that various items produced by the parent company included the unapproved use of another facility’s mark of inspection.
Tarrant said that means Lee’s Sandwiches have been processing products from federally-inspected establishments and repackaging them without the benefit of inspection.
Products that are not inspected could lead to health risks, though both the USDA and the company said no one has reported getting sick after eating any of the products. The recall affects products sent to Lee’s restaurants in Arizona, California, Nevada, Oklahoma, Oregon and Texas that had to be cooked and served to customers.
Tarrant said the investigation is a result of a surveillance of the Garden Grove facility but said she did not know how long the inquiry had been going on.
All Lee’s restaurants must post a sign notifying patrons of the recall, she said.
Fines or criminal charges could result from the investigation depending on what it reveals.
“The investigation will dictate what kind of action is taken,” said Tarrant.
Lee’s Sandwiches has more than a dozen locations in the Bay Area, including San Jose, Cupertino, Dublin, Hayward, Milpitas, Oakland, San Francisco and Sunnyvale.
Contact Tracy Seipel at tseipel@mercurynews.com or 408 920-5343 and follow her at Twitter.com/taseipel.
