Poultry processor fined £22k for food safety offences

Al-Ummah Halal Poultry Limited pleaded guilty to 11 food safety offences before Barnsley magistrates court this week.

The offences included: failure to remove viscera from poultry carcases after slaughter and failure to prevent spillage of digestive tract contents onto poultry.

Failure to comply​

The company also failed to comply with a Remedial Action Notice which was served regarding poor evisceration. It was found not guilty in relation to six other matters.

Al-Ummah Halal Poultry had previously been served an improvement notice following concerns about an unprotected pit at its poultry slaughterhouse in 2010.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) welcomed the outcome of the prosecution, with chair Heather Hancock thanking all involved for bringing the company to Justice.

“This case brought to light a woeful failure by the company to protect public health and food safety. Thankfully, no serious incident was caused as a result of their actions,”​ said Hancock.

‘Sends a clear message’​

“We are serious about prosecuting businesses that fail to uphold acceptable standards of food safety. This sentence sends a clear message to all food producers – having an effective food safety management system to avoid contamination is paramount.”​

The FSA said the case was one of the first of a small number of prosecutions which had been sentenced using the new Sentencing Council Guideline on Food Safety and Hygiene Offences, which came into effect in February.

Meanwhile, potato processing firm Glenview Foods was fined £3,000, after pleading guilty to six food safety offences​ last week.

The company was fined for five offences and was given a conditional discharge for a sixth offence, requiring continued compliance with food safety law for two more years.