A C Hopkins (Taunton) Ltd fined £16k for the offences at North Somerset Magistrates’ Court on 17 December 2024.
The abattoir had been previously issued with a remedial action notice on 3 August 2023 which required the business to ensure sheep carcases that had not had post-mortem inspection completed to not come into contact with other carcases.
A C Hopkins pleaded guilty to failing comply with a remedial action notice used by the Food Standards Agency, contrary to regulations 9(5) and 19(2) of the Food Safety and Hygiene (England) Regulations 2013.
Total charges
As well as the fine, the business was also ordered to pay a £2,000 surcharge to fund victim services and costs of £6,25.78, bring the total bill to £24,245.78.
Food safety and hygiene failings led to a number of fines for food and drink companies last year.
In February, the former owners of a bakery company in Knowsley were fined and banned from managing food businesses after pleading guilty to four charges of breaching food hygiene regulations.
A routine food safety inspection of Bakery Quality First Ltd found evidence of pest activity, including foodstuffs gnawed by rodents and a dead rat found in a bucket near to where food and packaging were stored.
Abattoir fine
In March, an abattoir in Greater Manchester was ordered to pay a £12k fine after it was convicted of 11 food safety charges.
Higginshaw Abattoir Ltd, based in Royton, Oldham, was ordered to pay the fine after it was found guilty of charges that related to the dispatch of meat that was above the legal temperature limit.
Meanwhile, David Wood Baking has been hit with a fine worth more than half a million pounds after three employees suffered injuries in separate incidents dating back to 2022.
