Poultry farmer Stuart Perkins of SG Perkins Ltd, age 38 from Radstock, received a substantial fine at Bath Magistrates Court on Wednesday 3 July after pleading guilty to various offences under The Food Safety and Hygiene (England) Regulations 2013 and the Animal Health Act 1981.
The FSA, working with partners including Avon and Somerset police, Environmental Health and Trading Standards, executed a search warrant at the poultry farm and abattoir in November 2023 and found evidence of traceability concerns and that Perkins had falsified Salmonella testing certificates. This meant birds had been slaughtered for the food chain without proof they were free from disease.
The Animal and Plant Health Agency supported the investigations, monitoring the welfare of the poultry on site and collecting official Salmonella samples. The FSA acted to manage the potential food safety risk by ensuring products with traceability concerns were removed from the market.
An alert was also issued to industry by the FSA’s NFCU to ask food businesses to check the traceability of their suppliers to help ensure legitimate businesses maintain the integrity and safety of their food chains and protect their customers.
Perkins and SG Perkins Ltd was sentenced to a fine of £5000 for each FSA offence, £3500 for each local authority offence, costs amounting to £21,810.75, plus a victim surcharge of £2000, which came to a total of £50,830.75.
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