A Chelmsford kebab manufacturer has been fined £500,000 after selling products labelled as lamb that contained little actual lamb, reports WalesOnline. Kismet Kebabs Ltd admitted one count of fraud by false representation and was sentenced at Swansea Crown Court. The company was also ordered to pay £259,298 in prosecution costs.
Prosecutor Lee Reynolds said the firm had manufactured and supplied kebabs to takeaways and restaurants across the UK with false labels over a “significant period of time”. He told the court: “Much of what was being described as lamb was in fact skin and fat.” Mr Reynolds said the company “routinely and knowingly purchased goat, lamb fat, skin, mutton, and ovine [sheep meat], and once processed through their factory sold it as lamb”. The court also heard Essex County Council had received complaints from authorities around England about the firm’s labelling and meat content. The investigation began after Swansea Council trading standards officers found kebab samples that did not match the meat content declared on their labels.
Further testing and a multi-agency inspection of the firm’s Chelmsford factory uncovered “multiple concerns” over production, packaging and labelling.
The court heard recipe cards showed very little lamb was being used in products sold as lamb kebabs.
Invoices also indicated the company was buying very little lamb meat but large quantities of fat, skin and lower-grade meat products.
Defending, barrister Stuart Jessop said the company had “taken its eye off the ball” but had since made significant changes.
He told the court the business had made “very little financial gain” from the offending and argued it would “benefit nobody” if it was forced to close.
Sentencing, Judge Huw Rees said fraudulent activity had been “endemic” at the company during the offending period.
He said Kismet Kebabs had engaged in “considerable dishonesty” over a prolonged period of time.
The judge also acknowledged the significant improvements made by the firm since the offences came to light.
He said the case was one where the level of harm caused was difficult to determine.
Kismet Kebabs Ltd was fined £500,000 and ordered to pay £259,298 towards prosecution costs.
The company has been given four years to pay the total amount.
Kismet Kebabs Ltd had previously admitted the offence before the case returned for sentencing.