The US Food and Drug Administration have slapped Tyson Foods with a warning about unhygienic conditions at its Texas plant which makes seafood soups. In the warning letter, which was posted online on Tuesday, the FDA stated that its health inspectors, during an inspection of the plant, found "fish meat stored at dangerously high temperatures".

The company's plant in question is located in Fort Worth.

Reportedly, the company stored fish and crab for nearly 18 hours at temperatures ranging between 40 and 55 degrees, whereas according to FDA standards, these should be stored at below 40 degrees at all times to prevent bacteria and toxins from growing on them.

In its defense, Tyson Foods has said that the problems deal with the documentation and not actual safety of the products. "Our Fort Worth plant is clean and sanitary and the products produced there are safe to eat. The shrimp and crab meat observed by FDA inspectors was not used in company products", said company spokesman Gary Mickelson.

Tyson has also asserted that since the inspection, it has updated its temperature at the Texas plant.