Poultry farmer fined over £50k for faking salmonella test results
15th July 2024
A poultry farmer from Somerset has been ordered to pay over £50,000 for falsifying salmonella testing certificates for chickens and eggs before they went into the food chain.
Stuart Perkins of SG Perkins Ltd has also presented birds for slaughter with either fake documents or with documentation that did not relate to those particular birds.
The 38-year-old pleaded guilty to various offences under the Food Safety and Hygiene (England) Regulations 2013 and the Animal Health Act 1981.
The Food Standards Agency, Avon and Somerset Police, Environmental Health and Trading Standards executed a search warrant at the poultry farm and abattoir in November 2023.
The FSA said it acted to manage the potential food safety risk by ensuring products with traceability concerns were removed from the market.
Jeopardising food safety
Mr Perkins was sentenced to a fine of £5,000 for each FSA offence, £3,500 for each local authority offence, costs amounting to £21,810.75, plus a victim surcharge of £2,000, which came to a total of £50,830.75.
Andrew Quinn, head of the Food Standards Agency’s National Food Crime Unit (NFCU), said: “We welcome this substantial fine as it shows the serious nature of faking documents and jeopardising food safety.
“This should act as a deterrent to anyone considering taking dangerous short cuts and breaching food safety and hygiene law. I want to thank Heart of the South West Trading Standards for their excellent work in securing this result, as well as Avon and Somerset Police for their assistance.
“Together, we are stronger in the fight against food crime, and we continue to work with partners to ensure food is safe and help ensure that consumers are protected.”
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