The United States Food and Drug Administration executed a search warrant earlier this week at the iconic Biloxi, Mississippi-based Mary Mahoney’s Old French House Restaurant.
Owner Bobby Mahoney believes the search warrant is linked to fish mislabeling, but he claims the restaurant has done nothing wrong, according to the Sun Herald.
Fifteen to 20 FDA agents swarmed the nearly 60-year-old restaurant the morning of 19 November. Employees who were preparing for lunch were told to leave, according to Mahoney. The restaurant was closed for lunch and reopened for dinner the same day.
“Myself, I think it’s very trivial,” Mahoney told the Sun Herald.
For example, Mary Mahoney’s has red snapper on the menu, and there are probably 50 to 60 varieties of red snapper, he noted.
The FDA was at the restaurant “in conjunction with an investigation of mislabeled fish,” Mary Mahoney’s said in a press release. The restaurant’s owners and employees have cooperated fully with the search, Mahoney told the Sun Herald.
Mahoney did not return a call from SeafoodSource.
Photo by Flickr user Georgo Trojanovich
