News-Lebaneat fined after customer sent to hospital

We took legal action against owners of the Lebaneat restaurant chain, Adam & Amin Ltd, after our environmental health officers visited its premises in Durham following a complaint from a customer who had eaten at the restaurant the night before.

The customer had requested a nut and sesame free meal, however shortly after eating the food they suffered from serious anaphylaxis and had to go to hospital.

Allergen procedure not followed

An inspection of the premises found that there were no dedicated utensils for allergen free meals; staff were not trained in allergens; the procedure for preparing and serving allergen free meals was not followed; and there was no dedicated member of staff or management checking the food orders.

Samples were taken from the chicken shawarma being served at the restaurant, which was from the same batch as the night the customer visited.

Interviews under caution were carried out with the manager, waiter, and chef who were all present on the night and involved in the customer's food order, and CCTV footage of the evening was also examined.

Officers also visited Lebaneat's unit at Meadowfield to check on food practice and allergen handling and storage within the unit. 

Breach of regulations

After considering the evidence, Peterlee Magistrates Court found that there was an intentional breach of food safety regulations.

Adam & Amin Ltd were found guilty of failing to ensure that all stages of production, processing and distribution of food were protected against contamination of allergens which could cause injuries to health.

The company was ordered to pay a £22,000 fine, £5,984 costs, and a £190 victim surcharge, totalling £28,174.

Failure to protect customers

Ian Harrison, our business compliance manager, said: "Contamination of allergens in food is a serious health risk. Failing to follow the right procedures to protect customers can result in not only them becoming seriously ill and needing hospital treatment, but can also put customers' lives at risk.

"It is imperative that food businesses are operating in a safe and hygienic way and, in this case, Lebaneat failed to ensure the safety of one of their customers. The severity of the fine reflects just how serious we, and the court, take this matter and how significant the outcome could have been for this customer."