Restaurant fined after selling food containing undeclared allergen
A Wantage restaurant owner was fined for food safety violations following an investigation by Oxfordshire County Council’s trading standards team.
Yummy Thai Restaurant Ltd and its director, Ms. Yook Ling Chong, of 8 Newbury Street, Wantage, faced enforcement action when a test purchase detected an undeclared allergen in food offered to customers.
During a routine allergen check on 15 November 2024, a trading standards officer told the restaurant about their soya and sesame allergies before buying a vegetable pad thai and spring rolls. Both dishes were sent for testing.
Laboratory analysis found 618mg of soy protein in the combined sample, which is much higher than the safe limit of 10mg.
After reviewing the test results, officers visited the premises on 8 May 2025. They discovered that ingredients used in dishes – including spring rolls, which were labeled as containing soya, sesame, and wheat – were missing from the allergen matrix and had not been disclosed to consumers.
At a hearing on 6 March 2026, Ms Chong pleaded guilty to selling food that did not meet purchasers' requirements under Section 14 of the Food Safety Act 1990.
Ms Chong received a 12 month conditional discharge and ordered to pay a £26 victim surcharge. The company was also fined £1,000, plus a £400 victim surcharge and £1,505.20 in council costs.
The company has also now revised its allergen matrix.
Councillor Jenny Hannaby, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Community Safety said, said: “This is a situation that could have had disastrous and even deadly consequences, which were fortunately avoided.
“Our trading standards team in its brilliant work securing this prosecution serves as a reminder to other businesses that they need to take their allergen management responsibilities seriously.”
Davina Walkin, Trading Standards Operations Manager at Oxfordshire County Council, said: “Food businesses have a legal and moral responsibility to protect customers with food allergies. Even small amounts of undeclared allergenic ingredients can have dangerous and potentially life threatening consequences for some people. This case demonstrates why robust allergen controls must be in place in every food business.
“We continue to conduct test purchases to ensure food businesses comply with food labelling legislation, including allergen information and take appropriate steps to safeguard consumers.”
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