Huy Fong Foods must comply with a 30-day hold on the shipment of its popular Sriracha hot sauce and two other sauces because the California Department of Public Health has begun enforcing new stricter guidelines for the company.

The hold was implemented by California regulators to ensure that the sauces are free of harmful microorganisms for the duration of its shelf life, said a spokeswoman for the department to the Los Angeles Times. The additional measure is required since the sauces are freshly ground and not cooked. As a result, batches of the company's three sauces, Sriracha, Chili Garlic and Sambal Oelek, will not be shipped to food distributors and wholesalers until mid-January.

The new regulation comes as Huy Fong is in the midst of a heated legal battle with the city of Irwindale, which sued the hot sauce manufacturer earlier this year, claiming that spicy odors from the factory caused or exacerbated health problems among residents. Last month, a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge ruled that the plant must immediately stop any odor-causing production until the smell could be identified and mitigated by experts, reports Fox News.

Because Huy Fong officials did not anticipate production delays, they had finished grinding chilis for the year and simply needed to mix and bottle the sauce.

Operations manager Donna Lam confirmed that the company began to comply with the state's hold period this week. Distribution is expected to continue relatively normally after the 30 day hold, however, other businesses will still be affected. Damon Chu, president of wholesale Asian food supplier Giant Union in Whittier, claims his company could lose around $300,000 in profits since his company buys up to $150,000 worth of Huy Fong Foods products each month.