Whole Foods Market, Kensington High Street was fined £2,000 for failing to inform a customer about the presence of walnuts in one of its products.
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At West London Magistrates’ Court, on the 7th September 2011, Fresh & Wild Ltd, the owners of Whole Foods Market, pleaded guilty to labelling and presenting food in a manner that misled the consumer.
The Court heard that on the 5th July 2010, a customer visited the deli counter at Whole Foods 63-97 Kensington High Street, and bought one portion of Aubergine Rollatini Spinach for £1.29. The customer who sufferers from a severe nut allergy checked the label and walnuts were not listed in the ingredients or on the label. Shortly after she bought the product, she bit into it and immediately realised that it contained nuts and suffered an allergic reaction. She was then admitted to hospital for eight hours in order to be stabilised.
Whole Foods told the court that this has never happened before and that they have since served over two million customers where it has not happened. Prior to this incident they already had a set of systems in place which addressed the handling of known food allergens, and they believed that the incident was caused by an oversight in which walnuts were accidentally omitted. Following the incident they reviewed their labelling process and have added even tighter controls on the store operations side of the business.
In sentencing, District Judge Jeremy Colman said he was impressed with the steps taken by the business. However, the consequences of this matter could have been very different. Thankfully the victim has now made a full recovery. This was a rather unfortunate situation for all those concerned and having considered all the evidence he saw fit to fine Whole Foods Market.
Councillor Fiona Buxton, Cabinet Member for Environmental Health, said: “The public have a right to expect the food they buy is correctly and properly labelled and the fine imposed by the court reflects the seriousness of the failure to label food properly. I am pleased that Whole Foods has reviewed its processes following this incident. If any resident thinks a food product has been labelled incorrectly they should report it to the Council’s Environmental Health Food Team.”
In addition to the fine the company was ordered to pay £2,321.03 in costs and a £15 victim surcharge.
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