News / Crime
Bristol shopkeeper fined for rotten produce
A Bristol shopkeeper has been fined £5,000 for selling rotten fruit and vegetables following an investigation by the Horticultural Marketing Inspectorate (HMI).
Iftikar Hussain, owner of Rehan’s Foodstore & Off Licence on Stapleton Road, Easton, was said to have disregarded his duty of care to his customers, despite having been given every opportunity to make the required improvements.
The investigation was conducted in February 2015 and found 11 displays breaking EU marketing rules relating to fresh produce quality and labelling.
These marketing rules state that produce for retail sale must be intact, sound, clean, and free from pests, pest damage, abnormal external moisture and foreign smell or taste.
Photos from the investigation clearly show produce that failed to meet the lowest marketable standards, with fruit for sale showing heavy bruising and rot and mold deposits.
Hussain was sentenced at Bristol Magistrates Court on September 16 and pleaded guilty to all 11 charges. As well as a £5,000 fine, he was ordered to pay £500 in prosecution costs and a £120 victim surcharge.
“Prosecution is only used as a last resort” said Paul Caldwell, Rural Payments Agency Operations Director.
“In this particular case, the prosecution followed a series of risk-based inspection visits to the shop where advice and guidance on compliance was offered.”
“During this time the owner consistently failed to meet his statutory responsibility and failed to ensure that the quality and labelling of the fresh produce placed on offer for sale met the required minimum standards permitted.”