A Halesowen business was found guilty of breaching food safety and hygiene regulations at a prosecution hearing last week.

Amerjit Singh Sareen and Ekjas Express Ltd were prosecuted for breaching food hygiene regulations, specifically placing food past its use by date for sale on the market and a lack of a food safety management system.

There were six charges against the Company under Regulation 19(1) and 6 against him as Director of the Company under Regulation 20(1) of the Food Safety and Hygiene (England) Regulations 2013. Mr Singh entered guilty pleas to all 6 charges against him, in addition to the 6 charges against the company and was given full credit for his early guilty plea.

In recognition the district judge fined both the company and Mr Singh for one offence, with no separate penalty for the others. The company is in the process of being wound up, with Mr Singh having sold the business in June 2021. Councillor Nicolas Barlow, cabinet member responsible for food hygiene, said:

"While we believe these breaches were not deliberate or malicious but due to a lack of knowledge on Mr Singh’s part, it was still important that we took action to help keep our residents safe and serve as a warning to other businesses that ignorance is no defence when it comes to public safety.

"The environmental health and trading standards team will continue to educate, investigate and take action against any business which is not up to standard.

"Our officers are always available to offer advice and information to any business who wants to make sure that they are following all the essential guidelines and legislation, but we will not hesitate to take action if this is not the case."

Mr Singh was fined £200 for offence 3, placing unsafe food on the market and ordered to pay costs of £652 and a victim surcharge of £34.

The company was £1,000 based on its financial circumstances, £652 costs and £34 victim surcharge: a total of £2,572 payable within 28 days. This was backed with a collection order.