'Stark' warning to every food business after takeaway fined over £8,000

Wirral Council has issued a warning to anyone serving food in Wirral after a takeaway was fined over £8,000 for serving a meal containing high levels of peanut protein to someone with a severe peanut allergy. This is after the local authority successfully prosecuted its case against the Spicy Kitchen takeaway at 128 Greasby Road in Greasby.

Its owner Babul Khan plead guilty to eight offences related to food safety regulations in June and was sentenced on November 21 at Liverpool, Knowsley, and St Helens Magistrates' Court. The court heard Antonia Brenton, who has a severe, potentially life-threatening peanut allergy and is an EpiPen carrier, ordered a takeaway from the restaurant while visiting her family on the Wirral ahead of a wedding.

Ms Brenton received assurances the meal would be peanut free and safe to eat but after two bites of the vegetable korma, she had a reaction that left her retching and swelling up. She took antihistamines to calm the reaction but was ill into the next day.

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Following this, Mr Abraham said Ms Brenton contacted the business to tell them what happened but she was initially told she must not have specified it was a peanut free meal. She then complained to Wirral Council on August 16 2023 who investigated and ordered the same takeaway as Ms Brenton.

When picking up the order, trading standards officer Alison Harvey told Mr Khan, who was running the business by himself that day, the reason for her visit and took a sample from the curry. Lab tests found 103mg of peanut protein whereas guidelines are 0.3mg.

The court sided with the council that there was little evidence of allergen training or proper food management with the risk of cross contamination being high. The local authority said it had tried to work with the business over several months but another visit in March 2024 found little progress and Spice Kitchen still couldn’t offer allergen meals with any degree of certainty.

Allergen training did later take place in May 2024 and it was pointed out Mr Khan had no previous convictions, had cooperated with the investigation and taken responsibility for the offences. He plead guilty to six offences as well as another two on behalf of the business.

Following the court's decision, Cllr Liz Grey, Chair of the Environment, Climate Emergency and Transport Committee for Wirral Council, said: “This is a really stark lesson for anyone in Wirral who is responsible for serving food to customers – this is not a trivial matter.

"The advice is clear, you have a choice to accept an order or not, but if you cannot guarantee you can provide an allergen-free meal when it is requested, tell the customer that; do not serve it anyway and risk causing them severe health issues, or worse-case scenario, potentially death.”

In court, Dom McNaab, representing Mr Khan, however disputed the business was motivated for financial reasons given its turnover and said language may have been an issue. Mr Khan required an interpreter in court.

Mr McNaab pointed to Ms Brenton’s statement which said she took herself off to bed after taking an antihistamine as well as Mr Khan’s guilty pleas. He said information about allergens now appeared on its website next to its menu, adding: “The staff have completed training and reasonable adjustments have been made to prevent a recurrence.”

Mr McNaab added: “Unlike very many people, he hadn’t sought to apply for a COVID loan even though he was eligible. He is a hard working individual and he bitterly regrets this incident.” He asked District Judge Wendy Lloyd to take into account the company’s finances as “it is a small company and he will struggle.”

In reaching her verdict, Judge Lloyd said the case was “troubling” arguing the sale of food was not a simple matter and potentially dangerous, adding: “This isn’t red tape or bureaucracy. It’s a matter of life or death potentially.”

She said Ms Brenton had been careful about what she ordered and was reassured it would not contain any peanuts giving her a false sense of security, adding: “Fortunately although a very distressing episode, she was able to recognise the symptoms and deal with them.

“She must have been very frightened and she had the added pressure that she was in the area for a wedding and had to attend the wedding feeling quite ill. She informed Mr Khan at the shop what had happened but regrettably she was initially accused of lying saying she hadn’t bought a peanut free meal.”

In coming to her decision, she said she took into account Mr Khan had plead guilty early avoiding a waste of public money as well as the companies turnover. While she acknowledged the takeaway had taken steps to improve, she said it was disappointing to see it took months and an incident like Ms Brenton’s to bring in staff proper allergen training.

However she added: “The fact it’s a small family business isn’t itself some kind of excuse. The same standards are still expected of a small business like this as are expected of the most splendid restaurants in the land.”

Mr Khan plead guilty to six personal offences as well as two on behalf of Spicy Kitchen (NW) Ltd. For the six offences, fines of £400 each were awarded and £200 for the two business related offences.

A victim surcharge was also awarded taking the total to £4,200. As for Wirral Council’s costs, the judge said she saw “no reason why the council taxpayers of Wirral should have to pay for this in any way" which increased the total by £3,875. This brought the total to £8,075 which will be paid over two years at a rate of £350 a month.