Lack of food safety records leads to fine for Mt Roskill samosa seller

By RNZ

An Auckland samosa seller has been fined thousands of dollars for failing to keep food safety records.

Mt Roskill-based wholesaler and caterer Tasty Foods, through its company Soma & Sons, was fined $13,500 in the Auckland District Court on Monday.

New Zealand Food Safety (NZFS) said the company was fined for failing to comply with its Food Control Plan, and manager Bhavesh Soma was fined $3000 for providing false information to a food safety officer.

An Auckland samosa seller has been fined thousands of dollars. Photo / 123RF

It recalled Tasty Foods' fully cooked samosas in March 2021 because the samosas found on site were being stored at an unsafe temperature.

Its investigation found the company did not record cooling and cooking temperatures on four occasions between 2020 and 2022.

All food businesses must have and follow a plan to manage any potential food safety risk to consumers, and the records must be kept for a minimum of four years

NZFS deputy director-general Vincent Arbuckle said its officers visited Soma & Sons several times and made it clear what was required, but it deliberately failed to act.

“While we are not aware of anyone becoming ill from eating these products, the absence of records means there is no assurance that the plan is being followed,” Arbuckle said.

“It’s very disappointing to see this disregard for consumer health. NZFS will continue to hold such businesses to account to ensure consumers are protected and to demonstrate to the vast majority of food businesses that do the right thing that the overall system is being monitored.”

He said Soma & Sons was an experienced food producer and under its Food Control Plan is expected to record samosa cooling and cooking temperatures.

“The rules are there for a reason - to protect consumer health - and the vast majority of food businesses do the right thing. Good record keeping is an important part of a food safety culture and ensures that if there was a food safety risk to consumers we’d be able to access records and quickly find the origin. Poor record keeping makes this challenging and increases the risk to people’s health,” Arbuckle said.

Sign up to The Daily H, a free newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.