Ceredigion business pleads guilty to nine food hygiene offences
Mrs Sheena Thomas and Mr Eifion Thomas of Golwg y Môr, Wauntrefalau, Tanygroes, Cardigan, pleaded guilty to nine food hygiene offences before Magistrates at Aberystwyth Justice Centre on 12 November 2024. The case was brought forward by Ceredigion County Council’s Public Protection Team.
During a routine food hygiene inspection by the Council at the ‘Golwg y Môr’ premises in September 2023, a Senior Environmental Health Officer discovered a vacuum packer labelled ‘cooked meat only’ being used to package raw meat. The practice was immediately prohibited, however this was ignored and the practice continued, leading to potentially contaminated cooked meats being sold in Ceredigion and nearby areas. Mrs. Thomas and Mr. Thomas obstructed the investigation by not fully cooperating with Ceredigion officers and falsified records in a deliberate attempt to hide the wrongdoings.
The Magistrates heard that the use of a vacuum packing machine for raw and cooked meats was found to be a likely source for the contamination of cooked meats in the South Wales e-coli outbreak in 2005 which drew focus to the seriousness of the hygiene offences in this case and the risk to the public. Aberystwyth Magistrates expressed their surprise at the defendants’ actions, stating that they had placed consumers in a potentially dangerous situation. They noted that falsifying records to try and conceal the offences had only made a “bad situation worse.”
In the sentencing hearing on 4 December 2024, the Magistrates fined both Mrs Thomas and Mr Thomas £5,000 each. They were also ordered to pay £1,000 court surcharge each and £3,428 each in legal costs.
A Council spokesperson stated: “The Public Protection team of Ceredigion County Council works with businesses to meet their legal obligations to protect the health & safety of those who live, work and visit Ceredigion. In this case the Council had to take immediate steps to remove the risk to public health, and was disappointed that the advice and action thereafter taken by the food business continued to put the public at risk. The Council does not take legal action lightly, and the action taken reflects the risk to the public.”