Kebab firm fined £500,000 over fake lamb labelling

A kebab manufacturer has been ordered to pay more than £759,000 after products sold as lamb were found to contain little or no lamb.

Kismet Kebabs Limited, based in Chelmsford, Essex, was fined £500,000 and ordered to pay £259,298.67 in costs at Swansea Crown Court.

The company was sentenced on Friday 5 June after pleading guilty to one offence of fraud by false representation.

The case followed a major investigation by Swansea Council’s Trading Standards team, which began in 2020/21 after samples taken during a regional food testing exercise raised concerns over products labelled as lamb kebabs.

Further enquiries and formal analysis found significant differences between what was declared on the labels and what the kebab products actually contained.

Swansea Council said Kismet Kebabs had been manufacturing and supplying mislabelled meat products to food outlets across the UK, including Swansea, over a sustained period.

Items marketed and sold as lamb were found in many cases to contain little or no lamb.

Instead, investigators found lower-grade ingredients had been used, including skin, fat and other meats.

Evidence gathered by the council included product samples, production records, recipes, invoices and material recovered during a multi-agency visit to the company’s premises.

Analytical results showed the goods had been misdescribed and incorrectly labelled in relation to their meat content and composition.

The court heard the fraud misled wholesalers, retailers and consumers, who believed they were buying higher-quality products than those actually supplied.

Swansea Council said the case also highlighted the importance of protecting legitimate businesses from serious food fraud.

Rhys Harries, Swansea Council’s Trading Standards Team Leader, said: “We became aware of the actions of Kismet Kebabs when we carried out some city-wide analysis of food being offered to consumers in Swansea.

“Our investigations highlighted serious discrepancies with the food labelling of the product compared to the results of our analysis and prompted our follow-up actions against the food manufacturer.

“Consumers deserve to know that what's going into the food they buy is what the label says it is.

“The £500,000 fine imposed by Swansea Crown Court, along costs of £259,298.67 reflects the seriousness of the offending and follows the company's guilty plea to the offences.

“We hope that the fine and costs serve as a deterrent to other businesses who might consider selling falsely-labelled food in this way.”