Takeaways prosecuted for selling unsafe food
Posted on Wednesday 23rd January 2019
Three takeaways in Newport have been prosecuted for selling unsafe foods.
The three were found to be in breach of food safety regulations and were discovered after Newport City Council’s trading standards officers posed as customers with an egg allergy as part of an allergens survey.
Officers visited a total of 10 takeaways between October and December 2017 where, posing as customers, they ordered special fried rice from the menus while stating they had an egg allergy and no egg should be present in the meals.
After the meals were supplied officers identified themselves as representing the council’s trading standards department and formally sampled the meals which were then sent to the Public Analyst. Three of the 10 takeaways were found to have supplied food which contained high levels of egg.
As a result two takeaways pleaded guilty at Cwmbran Magisrates Court on 6 August 2018 to charges of placing unsafe food on the market and selling food which was not of the nature demanded by the purchaser.
The Oriental Long Limited trading as The Oriental, Corporation Road, Newport and Shelax Limited, trading as Jasmine Rice, Commercial Road, Newport, were both fined £200 with £900 costs being awarded for each. Additionally, the persons in charge of each business, Jian Long Xie and Ke Gei Lu respectively, were each fined £100.
On 17 January 2019 at Newport Magistrates Court Lukas Lai trading as The Great Wall, Cromwell Road, Newport, pleaded guilty to the same offences after originally opting to take the matter to trial.
He was fined £2,419 and ordered to pay £2,189 costs.
Almost 2 million people in the UK suffer from a food allergy, with allergy to egg being one of the most common, especially in children.
In extreme circumstances it can have serious consequences such as difficulty in breathing or anaphylactic shock.
Councillor Ray Truman, Newport City Council’s cabinet member for Licensing and Regulation, said: “We are committed to protecting the health of our residents and will consider pursuing a prosecution when this has been compromised as shown in these three cases.
“Food businesses were previously advised of their responsibilities to ensure food is correctly described, particularly in relation to allergens and it is disappointing that in these cases this advice was not adhered to.
“It is essential that food businesses fully adhere to their legal responsibilities particularly in relation to allergens, as the consequences can be potentially fatal.”