Nelson takeaway prosecuted for allergen breach

Wednesday, 18 September 2024 14:45

An east Lancashire takeaway has been fined more than £8,000 after being prosecuted for food allergen breaches.

On 18 July 2023, a Lancashire County Council Trading Standards officer posing as a customer with a milk allergy placed an order for a chicken tikka naan at PizzaUno in Nelson.

The food they received was found to contain milk protein in a proportion deemed potentially harmful to someone with a milk allergy.

The takeaway company, its manager Faiz Ul Hassan and company director Farzana Bibi all admitted food safety offences.

They appeared at Lancaster Magistrates Court on 3 September 2024.

Councillor Michael Green, Lancashire County Council cabinet member for Health and Wellbeing said:

"This highlights how vital it is for businesses to take allergens seriously and to provide food that is safe for people with allergies.

"This failure could have had severe consequences had the food been eaten by someone with a milk allergy.

"I thank our Trading Standards team for this important work. They will continue to check food that's provided by Lancashire businesses and to raise awareness of allergens.

"Lancashire County Council offers allergen awareness training for businesses and I would encourage them to take advantage of this."

The company PizzaUno & Shawarma Ltd, which has been operating since 2017, were ordered to pay £8,076.19, which includes a £5,000 fine, a victim surcharge, and a contribution to prosecution costs.

Manager Faiz Ul Hassan, who served the food, blamed a communication error for the breaches.

In an interview with Trading Standards, he said a linguistic difference between yoghurt and milk in his native language meant he didn’t understand that yoghurt contained milk.

He also, incorrectly, claimed the cooking process would eliminate most of the yoghurt.

Mr Hassan was fined £1,284.95, which included a £533 fine, costs and a victim surcharge.

His wife, and company director, Farzana Bibi was fined £818.95, which included a £200 fine, costs and a victim surcharge.

She stated that the day-to-day management of the business was delegated to her husband, but she accepted responsibility for the company's actions as its sole director.

Businesses can find out more about the online allergen awareness training.