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A Greenford food manufacturer has been heavily fined after Ealing Council’s food safety team uncovered serious food safety failings that could have caused serious illness.

Gradegold Catering Limited, of Kelvin Industrial Estate in Long Drive, Greenford, supplies ready-to-eat fruit and vegetables to trade customers, including airline caterers.

On Friday 5 December, Ealing Magistrates’ Court heard that an unannounced inspection by council officers had found that foods were being labelled with false ‘use by’ and packing dates.

The company pleaded guilty to 2 charges: failure to implement procedures based on the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) principles and using labels which were likely to mislead as to the quality of the food.

It was fined £20,000 and ordered to pay more than £7,700 in costs and a £2,000 victim surcharge.

Misleading labels and shelf-life risks

The court heard that council officers visited the business in October 2024 and found that products such as lettuce, grapes, melon, and mango were labelled as having been packed on the next day and with illegally extended ‘use by’ dates.

The shelf life of ready-to-eat foods must be strictly controlled to ensure that bacteria does not grow to unsafe levels prior to the ‘use by’ date.

Chilled ready-to-eat food with a shelf life of 5 days or more can support the growth of harmful bacteria such as listeria monocytogenes. The council’s investigation found that Gradegold Catering Limited had not complied with regulations on labelling, increasing the risk that products could become unsafe before their ‘use by’ date.

All mislabelled food was voluntarily disposed of by the business at the time of the inspection, and a follow-up visit found the correct labelling was in place.

The court heard that the offences were likely to have arisen from a deliberate breach of the law. The company had a poor food safety record, with major non-compliance detected during previous inspections.

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