Sheffield Council catches booze shop and takeaway for food fraud

Both cases were highlighted in a council report discussed at the latest waste and street scene committee meeting.

Council officers said one business was caught selling counterfeit wine and the other was selling lamb bhuna that only contained beef.

“Both types of offences demonstrate a lack of regard for public safety as they circumvent food chain controls for financial gain,” officers said.

Shahram Mohammed of Bargain Booze, on West Street and First Choice, at 644 Staniforth Road, pleaded guilty at Sheffield Magistrates Court on February 1, 2023, to five offences in relation to selling counterfeit yellowtail wine. He was fined £220, ordered to pay £2,266 in costs and a victim surcharge of £34 – totalling £2,520.

Hanif ‘Tony’ Hussain of the famous Balti King, on Fulwood Road, pleaded guilty in the city’s magistrates court on March 1st, 2023, to selling a lamb bhuna that contained only beef, which he said in court was a mistake. He was given a conditional discharge and ordered to pay £300 and a £22 victim surcharge. This came just after he announced he was closing the business due to financial difficulty.

Both were caught by the council’s routine sampling. The authority took 17 food samples in the past year to check labelling and composition issues.