Poultry business fined £50,000 for faking disease certificates

Poultry farmer Stuart Perkins from Radstock, Somerset, has received a substantial fine at Bath Magistrates Court after pleading guilty to offences under various food hygiene and animal health regulations.

The Food Standards Agency’s (FSA) National Food Crime Unit, working with Avon and Somerset Police, Environmental Health and Trading Standards, searched the poultry farm and abattoir in November 2023 and found the business had falsified salmonella testing certificates.

See also: Read about our ‘Meat: Our Expectations’ campaign here

This meant birds had been slaughtered for the food chain without proof they were free from disease.

An alert was issued by the FSA and product was removed from the marketplace.

Mr Perkins and SG Perkins Ltd received a fine of £5,000 for each FSA offence, £3,500 for each local authority offence, costs amounting to £21,811, plus a victim surcharge of £2,000, which came to a total of £50,831.

Andrew Quinn, head of the FSA’s National Food Crime Unit, welcomed the size of the fine, saying it showed 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,” he said.

Mr Quinn added that anyone worried about the labelling or food hygiene practices of a food business, can report it in confidence online, or by freephone on 0800 028 1180.