Two jailed over supplying meat unfit for humans

"PA Media Trading Standards officers launched an investigation in 2020 after residents near a business on Walworth Road in south-east London, complained of the stench of rotting meat coming from what was described in court as a "disgustingly filthy" shop. Residents had taken photographs of large containers of meat left outside in the heat. At a linked premises in East Street, officers found a hidden illegal cutting shop where workers were skinning, washing and portioning tainted raw poultry for distribution."

"Anthony Fear, 63, was found to have supplied meat unfit for human consumption to Azar Irshad, 40, who ran a cutting room in south London after nearby residents complained of the smell of rotting meat. The court heard the meat including whole chickens and lambs' testicles should either have been destroyed or used in pet food, but was instead prepared to be sold for people to eat."

"Once meat is classified as an animal by-product, it cannot be sold for human consumption, according to the Food Standards Agency. But the court heard Irshad, a halal butcher, made 16 trips to Fear's business in Bridgwater, Somerset, to bring back meat to the south London cutting room. Trading Standards found 1.9 tonnes of animal by-product at an unregistered premises in Walworth."

Two men were jailed for their roles in a conspiracy to sell meat meant for pet food to unsuspecting shoppers. Anthony Fear supplied unfit meat to Azar Irshad, who ran an illegal cutting room in south London where tainted poultry and other animal by-products were prepared for human sale. Trading Standards investigated after residents complained about the stench and documented large containers of meat left in the heat. Authorities found 1.9 tonnes of animal by-product, including whole chickens and lambs' testicles, traced back to Fear's business. Fear received three-and-a-half years and a director ban; Irshad received 35 months.

Read at www.bbc.com