Belfast business fined for three food safety offences

Belfast business fined for three food safety offences

  • 16 January 2025
  • Business News

A catering company based in Belfast has been fined at Belfast Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday 14 January after pleading guilty to three food safety offences.

Belfast City Council brought the prosecution against Event Warrior Limited T/A (trading as) Craft Event Co following a complaint that a customer suffered an anaphylactic reaction after consuming food containing nuts at a function in September 2023. The customer, who has a nut allergy, administered their adrenaline auto-injector and was kept in hospital overnight for observation.

The three charges brought against the company involved serving food that was unsafe for consumers with allergies, failing to ensure that all staff were adequately supervised and trained on food hygiene matters and, in particular, allergen management, and failing to have proper procedures in place in their food safety management system to provide allergen-free food.

The company was fined £4500 for all three offences, ordered to pay £548 in costs, and also required to pay £1000 in compensation to the individual involved.

This case highlights the importance of allergy safety in the catering sector and for businesses to be aware of food law and their responsibilities. In the UK, all food businesses are required to provide accurate allergen information for every item that contains any of the 14 major food allergens, which includes tree nuts.

More information on Food Regulation can be found here.