Mold Crown Court heard today (Friday, July 17) that two Wrexham Council officers visited The Lemon Tree on November 12, 2024.
Ryan Rothwell, prosecuting, said the officers attended as part of a sampling exercise to test food sold as gluten free.
The menu marked a number of dishes ‘GF’, and the officers, who were posing as regular customers, asked staff if these were gluten free dishes as they required gluten free food because of an allergy.
After being told yes, they ordered crispy soy beef – which there was no issue with. However, the second dish, a portion of fish and chips, was found to have 358mg per kilogram of gluten.
Food can only be described as gluten free where it contains no more than 20mg per kg of gluten – making the gluten in the fish and chips nearly 18 times the permitted level.
An analyst deemed the meal unsafe for a person with a gluten allergy – with the potential consequences being serious illness or a rapid life-threatening reaction for someone with a wheat allergy.
The Lemon Tree launched an investigation into how it happened, and found that flower containing gluten was probably used to douse the fish before it was battered. However, the company wasn’t able to identify who made the batter that day.
The court heard that The Lemon Tree didn’t have a clearly written allergen handling policy in place, and there was only limited evidence of formal allergen training for staff.
The company didn’t provide a satisfactory answer as to the use and storage of dedicated equipment specifically for gluten free food production, and couldn’t produce a record showing how this particular allergy request had been communicated by the waiting staff to the kitchen.
The court heard that following the incident, The Lemon Tree took steps to address its allergen policy. It introduced a written allergen handling policy, provided further training to staff and changed its practice so ingredients were retained in original packaging.
The court was told that at Wrexham Magistrates Court on May 12 this year, The Lemon Tree admitted the offence of selling food not of the nature substance / quality demanded by the purchaser.
It was fined £8,000 and ordered to pay a surcharge of £3,200. However, the court was told that the surcharge was wrong – and by law should have been no more than £2,000.
Jonathan Underhill, defending, said that Wrexham Council could have charged The Lemon Tree with the lesser offence of supplying food that is injurious to health, which includes failing to accurately declare allergens.
Mr Underhill said there was no obvious reduction in the fine to reflect the mitigating factors of the case – which included no aggravating features and the fact The Lemon Tree had no previous convictions.
He added that, the company is described as a “micro-organisation” which was at the time operating at a financial loss – and this should have been reflected in the decision on the amount it was fined.
The court heard that The Lemon Tree no longer serves meals, except breakfast as part of its hotel service.
Judge Nicola Jones said that while the failure could have caused serious harm – she took into account the financial position of The Lemon Tree and the mitigating circumstances.
She applied a £4,000 reduction in the fine imposed by the Magistrates Court, and the surcharge was reduced to £1,600.