Dishes containing harmful allergen levels leaves Buntingford Indian restaurant and takeaway with £11,350 court bill

An East Herts curry house has been ordered to pay £11,350 after Hertfordshire trading standards officers discovered dangerous allergens in dishes.

Sona Catering Ltd, which trades as Sona, an Indian restaurant and takeaway on Buntingford High Street, was fined £8,000 plus a £2,000 victim surcharge and prosecution costs of £1,350.

The business pleaded guilty at St Albans Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday (Sept 25) to two food safety and hygiene offences.

The bench was told that in February 2023, Herts Trading Standards received a complaint from a member of the public about Sona’s allergen management processes. As a result, trading standards officers gave Sona detailed advice to help it improve its staff training and food preparation processes.

However, when officers then carried out a test purchase and took a formal sample of several dishes which should have been gluten-free, some items had levels that could cause serious health implications for someone with a gluten allergy.

A formal written warning was given to the business, along with further advice.

In October 2023, a further three dishes were sampled. The test purchasing officer asked for them to be milk-free. However, all of the elements of the order were found to contain levels which could have caused harm to someone with a milk allergy.

In mitigation, the company stated that it had subsequently implemented a new allergen management system to prevent incidents like this from happening again.

Cllr Morris Bright, Herts County Council’s executive member for community safety, said: “This company have a long history of failing their customers when it comes to allergen safety.

“Seeing a case like this come to court, with the owners receiving a significant fine as a result, is clear evidence that the safety of our residents is of paramount importance to us.

“I hope this result sends a clear message that if you have a complaint, we will follow it up and we will do all we can to stop it happening to others in the future.”