Grimsby restaurant fined over 'nut free' korma
- Published
The Spice of Life is now telling customers its dishes could contain traces of peanuts
A chicken korma sold as nut free contained enough peanut to trigger an allergic reaction, a court heard.
A case was brought after Trading Standards officers carried out a check on the Spice of Life restaurant in Grimsby in July 2017.
The korma was found to have contained 4.3mg of peanut - making it an offence under the Food Safety Act.
The firm and its former director Abdul Salique were fined £2,500 and ordered to pay costs.
During sentencing at Grimsby Magistrates' Court on Thursday, District Judge Daniel Curtis said he recognised the difficulties faced by restaurants in preparing food.
However, he said restaurants should not advertise nut free dishes unless they could guarantee it.
In response, Mr Salique, 55, of Welholme Road, said the firm had now taken steps to ensure customers were told dishes could contain traces of nuts.
He said it was near impossible to avoid some contamination in a commercial kitchen.
Neil Clark, regulatory services strategic lead at North East Lincolnshire Council, said: "Peanut allergies are one of the biggest causes of anaphylactic shock in the UK, and mistakes such as this do pose a serious risk to public health."
In 2016, Yorkshire restaurant owner Mohammed Zaman was jailed for six years for manslaughter when a customer died after suffering a severe anaphylactic shock after eating a takeaway containing peanuts.