A UK poultry farmer has been fined £50,000 after pleading guilty to falsifying Salmonella testing certificates.

More specifically, after prosecution by the UK Food Standards Agency (FSA), Stuart Perkins of SG Perkins Ltd. from Radstock, England was found guilty of several offenses offenses under the Food Safety and Hygiene (England) Regulations 2013 and the Animal Health Act 1981.

Working with other enforcement partners, FSA executed a search warrant at the Perkins’ poultry farm and abattoir in November 2023, finding evidence of traceability concerns and testing certificate falsification. The UK Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) supported subsequent investigation, monitoring the onsite welfare of the poultry and collecting official Salmonella samples. FSA acted to mitigate potential food safety risk by ensuring products with traceability concerns were removed from the market.

An alert was also issued to industry by FSA’s National Food Crime Unit (NFCU) to ask food businesses to check the traceability of their suppliers.