A US judge has ordered a factory that produces the popular Sriracha chilli sauce to stop emitting annoying odours in a ruling that has left some nearby residents worried about a possible loss of jobs at the site.
Judge Robert H. O'Brien on Tuesday ruled in favour of the city of Irwindale, where Sriracha recently relocated, saying sauce maker Huy Fong Foods must stop any operations that could be causing the odours and make unspecified changes to mitigate them.
The company had no immediate comment, but a few neighbours interviewed on Wednesday dismissed the complaints and worried that jobs might be lost if the plant is forced to close.
"I don't want it shut down because I think a lot of people will lose their jobs," said Marta Torres, 47.
"In two years it has never smelled as much as now, but I think it's OK."
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Torres said the smell wafts into her home late in the day in an area where many of her neighbours like to cook with spices.
"It's something you can deal with," she said.
"It doesn't bother us."
O'Brien's preliminary injunction was issued in response to a lawsuit filed October 21 by Irwindale, a small industrial city east of Los Angeles and home to nearly 1500 people.
It wasn't immediately known if the food company plans to appeal.
The company has said there is no reason to close the plant now because harvest season and the subsequent grinding of red-hot jalapeno peppers - the key ingredient of the sauce - have passed.
As a result, the injunction might not have an immediate impact on the company's production or the country's hot sauce supply as Huy Fong continues its year-round mixing and bottling.
The judge acknowledged there was a lack of credible evidence linking complaints of breathing trouble and watery eyes to the factory.
But he said for residents the odour that could be reasonably inferred to be emanating from the facility is "extremely annoying, irritating and offensive to the senses warranting consideration as a public nuisance".
Some residents said living with the smell is bearable.
Randall Acosta, 45, who lives in an apartment complex across the street from the factory, said the scent can be strong sometimes but it makes him hungry.
"Why are people complaining about the chilli smell when this is an industrial area?" he asked.
"There's burning rubber down the street. There are other dangers in this city."
The case could still go to trial, but Irwindale officials would like to see a settlement outside court and do not want to shut down Sriracha altogether, City Attorney Fred Galante told the Los Angeles Times.
"We're going to try to keep having a conversation with Huy Fong," he said, and find a collaborative way to address the odour problem.
