A convenience store owner in Bradford has been ordered by a court to pay more than £2,000 after dozens of chilled food items in his shop, including meats, were found to be past their use-by date.
Ballen Mohammad Zarar was the director of Euro Market on Great Horton Road in late 2022. Over the course of these two inspections during that time, officers found 70 items of food on shelves that were past their legal use-by date. One item was 17 days out of date.
Zarar, of Roundwood Avenue, appeared at Bradford and Keighley Magistrates' Court last week, pleading guilty to two counts of failing to comply with EU food safety provisions. He is no longer involved in the business.
It was the second time Zarar appeared in court in recent years for food safety issues.
In November 2022, he was sentenced after admitting to a string of food safety charges that related to an inspection the previous year, where mouldy meat and items up to 51 days past their use-by date were found to be on sale at the store.
Last week's court appearance was related to inspections on October 11, 2022, and November 14, 2022.
Magistrates were told that the store had a “poor track record” for food hygiene. The court heard that Zarar was sentenced for the 2021 charges that same month. He was fined £1,107, and ordered to pay £3,265 in costs and a £111 surcharge.
The counsellor defending Zarar stated, “The defendant feels this prosecution is unfair.”
He questioned why the charges were not all tied up in a single prosecution, pointing out that the first prosecution happened after the two inspections that led to Thursday’s sentencing. It was also added that Zarar had since walked away from the food business and had no intention of returning and that the previous fine as “crippling” and it "bankrupted him".
Zarar currently earns £70 a week as a carer. He would willingly sign a notice preventing him from running a food business in the future, magistrates were told. Magistrates fined Zarar £320 and ordered him to pay £1,745 costs and a £128 surcharge.
