Al-Ummah Halal Poultry Limited has been fined GBP22,000 (US$27,302) after pleading guilty to 11 food safety offenses at its facility in Barnsley, U.K.
Among those offenses are:
- Failure to remove viscera from poultry carcasses after slaughter
- Failure to prevent spillage of digestive tract contents onto poultry
- Non-compliance with a Remedial Action Notice which was served regarding poor evisceration
The poultry company was found not guilty on six other charges that had been filed.
According to the U.K. Food Standards Agency (FSA), the Ummah Halal Poultry case is one of the first FSA prosecutions using the new Sentencing Council Guideline on Food Safety and Hygiene Offenses, which went into effect in February.
“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,” said FSA Chair Heather Hancock.
“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.”
