Fish Producer in Court

Thistle Seafoods were fined £4,000 with nearly £2,500 in costs at Bishop Auckland Magistrates court on 30th March 2007. The manufacturer of breaded cod nuggets pleaded guilty to 4 charges of failing to declare the amount of fish in a product they manufactured during 2005. The facts were revealed after a routine sample had been analysed by the Public Analyst in Durham who found the fish content to be deficient. Sampling officers then collected 11 further samples from the same batch and results varied between 47% and 61% fish, the mean being 53%. The declared amount of fish on the label was 60%.

Part of the confusion over the interpretation of results was believed to be that all of the fat present in the product after flash frying, when added to the defatted fish content, gave a result of 60% or more. This is not an acceptable practise as cod only contains a small amount of natural fat. Charges were brought under section 15 of the Food Safety Act 1990.

Alan Richards, President of the Association of Public Analysts and official analyst for Durham County Council said "this has been a very long and drawn out case which highlights the failure of a company to demonstrate sufficient due diligence in the manufacture of their fish products. A Code of Practise on Declaration of Fish Content of Fish Products was agreed several years ago in collaboration with the industry and enforcement officers. Detailed guidance is in the code to enable manufacturers to understand how Public Analysts will test fish products and also how they can comply with food labelling regulations regarding indication of fish content".