Valley Processing, Inc.
Outcome
Valley Processing, Inc. and its former president Mary Ann Bliesner, 83, each pleaded guilty in December 2024 to federal food safety crimes — the company to conspiracy to introduce adulterated fruit juice into interstate commerce from 2012 to 2019, and Bliesner to misdemeanor FDCA violations including distributing grape juice concentrate contaminated with bird and rodent feces, fur, insects, and decaying remains supplied to the National School Lunch Program; sentencing was scheduled for March 26, 2025.
Details
Valley Processing, Inc. — Criminal Guilty Plea / Adulterated Juice to School Lunch Program (2024)
Outcome: Valley Processing, Inc. and former president Mary Ann Bliesner (age 83) each pleaded guilty in December 2024 to federal food safety crimes — the company to conspiracy to introduce adulterated juice into interstate commerce from 2012 to 2019, and Bliesner individually to misdemeanor FDCA counts — for distributing grape juice concentrate contaminated with bird and rodent feces, insect remains, and decaying matter, including to National School Lunch Program customers; sentencing was set for March 26, 2025.
Valley Processing, Inc. (VPI) was a Sunnyside, Washington state fruit juice manufacturing and processing company in the Yakima Valley. Its former president and controlling owner, Mary Ann Bliesner, 83, operated the company through at least 2019. Federal investigators and prosecutors with the Eastern District of Washington determined that between October 2012 and June 2019, VPI and Bliesner engaged in a conspiracy to distribute adulterated and misbranded fruit juice products — including apple and grape juice concentrate — to customers in the United States and abroad.
Contamination found in VPI's products included bird and rodent feces, fur (indicating rodent infestation), insects, and decaying organic remains — conditions representing catastrophic failure of basic good manufacturing practice sanitation standards. Among VPI's customers were recipients of the National School Lunch Program, which serves children in public schools — one of the most safety-sensitive food distribution channels in the country. The company continued distributing products under these conditions for approximately seven years.
Bliesner pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor FDCA counts: failing to register a food facility with the FDA, and failing to prevent and correct VPI's introduction of adulterated grape juice concentrate into interstate commerce. VPI pleaded guilty to conspiracy. Sentencing was scheduled for March 26, 2025.
Primary Source: Fruit Juice Manufacturing Company and its Former President Plead Guilty to Food Safety Crimes | DOJ
How Crucible Prevents This
A seven-year conspiracy (2012–2019) to distribute juice contaminated with bird and rodent feces, insect matter, and decaying remains — including to the National School Lunch Program — represents institutional corruption of the food safety function, not an isolated quality failure. The company's own records must have shown the contaminated inventory; the decision to distribute was made by personnel at the executive level. Crucible's DECISIONS log enforces documented rationale for high-risk actions: any release of a lot flagged for sanitation issues would require a named sign-off with documented justification, creating accountability at the decision point and making multi-year concealment structurally difficult.
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