Malden Food Market Shuts Down After Selling Misbranded Meats

A retail food market located in Malden has recently reached a settlement agreement with the government following allegations of violating federal laws regarding the sale and transport of misbranded and uninspected meat and poultry products.

This agreement comes after the market had been operating under a consent decree due to previous violations.

The market, known as Kim Long Market Malden, LLC, along with its managers, Chien Hong Pham, Thomas Pham, and Tien Manh Pham, have agreed to voluntarily close the business, pay civil penalties, and impose restrictions on their future involvement in the food retail sector, according to a press release from the office of the U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts.

In 2019, the defendants entered into a consent decree with the United States Department of Agriculture after admitting to buying, offering for sale, and selling meat food products that lacked USDA inspection and were misbranded, thus violating the Federal Meat Inspection Act, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.

Additionally, they confessed to failing to maintain proper business records related to these meat products. As part of the decree, they agreed to pay civil penalties and face further consequences if they were to violate the Federal Meat Inspection Act again.

Despite the terms of the consent decree, the defendants were found to have violated the Federal Meat Inspection Act twice since 2019 – once in 2020 and again in January 2023. On both occasions, they were caught selling uninspected and misbranded meat food products to retail customers, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.

Under the terms of the recent settlement agreement, the defendants are required to pay an immediate sum of $65,000 in civil penalties. Furthermore, they must hold in abeyance an additional $262,000 in civil penalties if they decide to close Kim Long Market. Moreover, Chien Hong Pham and Thomas Pham have agreed not to engage in the retail food business in the future, while Tien Manh Pham has committed to not owning or managing a food retail business; Pham must also report any employment with such businesses for the next five years.

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