Local business prosecuted after failing to follow regulations around selling food

A Barnsley business has recently been prosecuted for failing to comply with the Food Safety Act, being ordered to pay over £9,000 in fines and costs.

As part of our commitment to public safety, our Trading Standards enforcement officers visited Brothers Convenience Store on High Street, Wombwell last May.

Following their visit, they served an improvement notice to the business after finding that food packaging did not include the mandatory product information.

It’s important that any food for sale includes the right information about ingredients and allergens, helping to protect consumers from buying products which might be harmful to their health.

After failing to comply with this improvement notice, Brothers Convenience Ltd was prosecuted on Thursday 27 February for charges under the Food Safety Act 1990.

As a result of the prosecution, they were ordered to pay £9,082.66, comprising a £6,000 fine, additional costs of £1,082.66 and a victim surcharge of £2,000.

This outcome shows how our Legal Services and Trading Standards teams will work together to ensure food safety standards are maintained in businesses across Barnsley.

Councillor Wendy Cain, Cabinet Spokesperson for Public Health and Communities, said: “We’re committed to keeping our communities safe and take this responsibility seriously. Our teams do great work to make sure businesses comply with the Food Safety Act and keep potentially harmful products off our shelves.

“We work closely with traders to make this possible, helping them to understand their responsibilities and issuing warnings where they can correct errors. This successful prosecution shows how we will always put people’s health and safety first, taking necessary action when businesses fail to work with us in making improvements.”

Our Trading Standards team are here to help your business understand your food safety responsibilities. If you own a food business and have any of the below concerns, please call the team on 01226 773743 for advice and support:

• If you’re selling any food products that are not labelled in English.
• If you’re selling imported products that don’t have the name and address of a UK business.
• If you’re selling food and drink but are not registered as a food business.