In mid February, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) won a case against AC Hopkins for failing to ensure meat was kept chilled throughout the entire food chain. Following the conviction, a judge at the Old Bailey has told the firm to pay a fine of £3,000 and costs of £20,000.
The company had failed to ensure that pig carcasses were chilled immediately in the slaughterhouse at a temperature throughout the meat of not more than 7°C, as required by European Union Hygiene Regulations.
The firm also failed to ensure that temperature was maintained during transport.
Responsibilities
Andrew Rhodes, director of operations, said: “This case highlights the responsibilities food businesses and legislators have to ensure that food law is complied with.
“Professor Hugh Pennington, in his 2009 report on the E.coli outbreak in Wales, made the point that legislative requirements are not optional. Food businesses cannot decide what they will or will not comply with, just as legislators such as the FSA cannot pick and choose which parts of legislation we enforce or not.”
Rhodes said the rules were in place to protect public health, and must always be taken seriously. “The vast majority of meat businesses do things correctly, so there is little defence for the minority who do not comply with the law,” he added .
The firm denied breaching the regulation but was found guilty by a jury after a week-long trial at the Old Bailey, according to the local publication This is Somerset.
AC Hopkins declined to comment on the case.