Two councils in England seized imported American cereal, candy, crisps, and drinks during operations.
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.
Meanwhile, In a different operation, trading standards officers at Staffordshire County Council seized illegal foods and drinks from a shop in Leek in October.
In the Westminster City Council raid, several of the chocolate bars were not labelled in English, in addition, Trading Standards teams also uncovered illicit Lucky Charms Cereal, KitKats, Lion Bars and a variety of bottled drinks including Mirinda and Fanta all containing banned ingredients. The 676 items, valued at £2852.75, were confiscated in a raid from 6th 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 1st October where it the destruction of good was ordered and £3110.25 was awarded. The business is also required to pay for the destruction.
In Staffordshire, more than 750 items of Imported American candy and drinks containing unauthorised substances were seized along with 4 kg of illicit Tobacco, 5,240 Cigarettes and 88 illegal Vapes.
Products confiscated included Mountain Dew, Dubble Bubble, Jolly Rancher gummies and hard candy, all containing ingredients unauthorised in the UK, such as mineral oil, bleached flour or colourants. Many of the soft drinks seized contain EDTA, known to be linked to kidney failure.
