Foodlaw-Reading Dr David Jukes, The University of Reading, UK
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Food Law News - UK - 2016

FSA News Item, 10 November 2016

HYGIENE - FSA welcomes prosecution of Barnsley poultry plant

We welcomed this week’s successful prosecution of Al-Ummah Halal Poultry Limited, which was sentenced after pleading guilty before Barnsley Magistrates Court in relation to food safety related offences.

The company, which operates a poultry slaughterhouse in Barnsley, was fined £22,000 after pleading guilty to eleven offences, including failure to:

• remove viscera from poultry carcases after slaughter
• prevent spillage of digestive tract contents onto poultry
• comply with a Remedial Action Notice which was served regarding poor evisceration.

The company was found not guilty in relation to six other matters.

Heather Hancock, the FSA Chair, said: ‘We welcome the outcome of this prosecution and thank everyone involved in 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.

‘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.’

This case is one of the first of a small number of FSA prosecutions which have been sentenced using the new Sentencing Council Guideline on Food Safety and Hygiene Offences, which came into effect in February 2016.