Reoffending Oxford Street candy shop has illegal sweets, cereal, and crisps incinerated after Environmental Health raid

 

More than 600 items on sale at an Oxford Street candy shop, including American cereal, crisps, and fizzy drinks have been sent to the incinerator after being seized by Westminster City Council’s Environmental Health team.

With Halloween creeping up on us, unsuspecting Trick or Treaters could have been in for an early fright if officers from the council had not seized the illegal products, which contained additives, colourings and e-numbers banned in the UK.

Several of the chocolate bars were not labelled in English, meaning consumers were unable to check the products for ingredients, sell by dates, or allergens. Trading Standards teams also uncovered illicit Lucky Charms Cereal, KitKats, Lion Bars and a variety of bottled drinks including Mirinda and Fanta all containing dangerous and harmful ingredients.

676 items, valued at £2852.75, were confiscated in a raid from 6^th September and will now be incinerated.

It is the latest raid on the same premises which was previously found to be selling Swedish Fish and Hot Tamales sweets, which are banned in the UK due to the impact their additive ingredients can have on children. In the last three months alone, 2,374 non-compliant products were destroyed from this premises.

Following the seizure, council staff attended Westminster Magistrates Court on Monday 1^st October where it the destruction of good was ordered and £3110.25 was awarded.  The business is also required to pay for the destruction.

Leader of Westminster City Council, Cllr Adam Hug, said:

We are continuing to make the lives of unscrupulous traders a nightmare through regular enforcement action and putting pressure on landlords. This collection of illegal sweets was enough to send a shiver down anyone’s spine.

There are more raids coming in the next few weeks, so I hope traders who seem happy to sell illegal goods to children are ready for a fright.”