Meat cutting plant ordered to pay £18,000 over hygiene breaches

A meat cutting plant in the West Midlands has been ordered to pay more than £18,000 after it failed to correctly ID carcasses and used unclean trays to store wrapped meat.

The owner of the site, Noor Halal Foods, pleaded guilty to both offences at Wolverhampton Magistrates' Court last month and was fined £12,000, told to pay costs of £6,086 and a victim surcharge of £170.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) said it had provided advice and guidance to the business about the correct application of ID marks and the required standard of cleaning for plastic trays; however later visits in May and June 2018 found continued breaches.

Dr Colin Sullivan, the FSA's chief operating officer said: "The FSA takes breaches of food hygiene regulations very seriously.

"Identification of products helps ensure that food can be verified and allows food to be traced back to where it was produced.

"We welcome this fine for the disregard of procedures that are put in place to protect consumers and the industry."