A convenience store chain has been fined £36,000 after Pembrokeshire County Council uncovered serious food allergen labelling breaches in a store.
During a routine inspection at CKs Supermarket in Narberth, on 24 July last year, Environmental Health Officers from the council’s Food Safety & Standards Team identified multiple examples of non-compliance with allergen labelling requirements.
Three products chosen at random were found to be incorrectly labelled and failed to appropriately declare all allergens in accordance with regulations.
Labelling concerns had previously been raised at both store level and head office, but had failed to secure compliance and due to the serious potential consequences formal action was taken. Clear and correct labelling of allergens is critically important to those sufferers for whom the consumption of even small quantities of allergens can prove fatal.
CK’s head office was responsible for producing the labels for instore bakery items, meaning the issue affected multiple locations. Upon discovery at the Narberth store, the officers immediately contacted the company’s senior management, and the affected products were removed from sale.
The case was heard in Haverfordwest Magistrates Court on Tuesday 30 September 30 this year. Following early guilty pleas the company was fined £12,000 for each of the three offences and ordered to pay £2,000 victim surcharge. Costs totalling £2,849.95 were also awarded to Pembrokeshire County Council.
Cllr Jacob Williams, Cabinet Member for Regulatory services said: “Food allergen labelling is a legal requirement to protect consumers, especially those with serious allergies, for whom even small quantities of a particular ingredient can be lethal.
“We welcome the company’s early guilty pleas and the court’s sentence, and hope the level of fines imposed remind all food businesses how important it is to ensure labelling is accurate and legally compliant.”
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