A West London food importer and distributor has been fined for failing to ensure essential safety checks on potentially ‘toxic food’ it brought into the UK. The Southall based company failed council compliance checks and will have to pay over £9,000 in fines and costs.
Al Noor Limited, on Johnson Street, failed to notify port authorities in Suffolk about a shipment of spice mixes from Pakistan it received in May 2022. By failing to declare these goods, the spices did not undergo necessary checks to ensure their safety. The company had also ‘intentionally’ obstructed authorised officers carrying out compliance checks, Ealing Council said.
Al Noor Ltd and its director Ahmed Akhlaq, of Parlaunt Road, Slough, pleaded guilty to the unauthorised removal of goods, and failing to comply with an official notice, at Uxbridge Magistrates’ Court on Friday, January 3. Al Noor Ltd was ordered to pay a fine, victim surcharge, and costs totalling £9,424, while Mr Akhlaq was ordered to pay a total of £3,285, for the two offences.
The court heard that the shipment received in 2022 contained a variety of spice mixes from Pakistan, which were classified as high risk because of potential contamination with aflatoxins. These are carcinogens linked to liver cancer which are typically associated with these products, and if ingested can be life-threatening.
After the shipment was removed from Suffolk Coastal Port without checks taking place, it officially became an ‘illegally imported consignment of food’, and should have been destroyed. Ealing Council’s food safety team ordered the business to destroy the imported products within 60 days.
During a follow up compliance check, council officers discovered that more than half of the shipment was missing and unaccounted for. The business was given 24 hours to locate the missing goods.
Days later, inspectors found that the missing boxes and been ‘relabelled and repacked’ in an attempt to disguise the illegally imported food. The products were eventually disposed of eight days after the 60-day deadline expired.
Councillor Kamaljit Nagpal, Cabinet Member for Decent Living, said: “Obstructing food safety officers is a very serious offence and is not taken lightly by the council. The consequences for the business’ customers in this case could have been grave if council officers had not stepped in to enforce the law.
“We are pleased that the court’s fine reflects the gravity of the case. We will always seek the strongest possible punishments for companies which gamble with the public’s safety.”
Laurence Jarrold is a technical specialist for the Suffolk Coastal Port Health Authority (SCPHA). He said: “We are pleased to see this successful prosecution. The products were not declared as required at the UK Border and therefore were not assessed under the required import controls. Without Ealing Council’s assistance, this could have led to unchecked high-risk products with significant potential health risks being placed on the market, posing a risk to consumers.
“This is a great example of successful joint working with environmental health colleagues. This collaborative effort has successfully safeguarded UK public health, which remains our top priority.”
Al Noor declined to comment when approached by the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
Philip is a Local Democracy Reporter covering Ealing, Hillingdon and Hounslow, with a focus on council decisions, housing, planning, licensing and community stories across west London.
