Restaurant chain Ask Italian has been fined £40,000 after pleading guilty to an offence under the Food Safety Act 1990.
The offence relates to a discovery by Swansea Council Trading Standards that the restaurant’s most expensive dish – ‘Aragosta e gaberoni’ or Lobster and King Prawn – contained only a small amount of lobster.
During a routine inspection a request to see the dish raised concerns that the meal did not resemble lobster. Further investigations through testing of the dish highlighted the fact only a third of the dish was made from lobster with the remaining elements containing white fish and filler.
The ‘Lobster sensations’ product, which arrives prepacked at the restaurant, was also established to retail for just £1.40 with the meal selling at restaurants for £14.95.
Rhys Harries, Swansea Council’s Trading Standards Team Leader, said: “Our role as trading standards is to ensure restaurants accurately describe the food on menus and that it reflects what appears at their table.
“When our officers visited the restaurant in March 2019, our investigations prompted some concerns over their most expensive dish which was described as lobster.
“We felt that the description on the menu compared to the product actually served was likely to mislead customers as to the substance of the food.”
Mark Thomas, Swansea Council Cabinet Member for Environment and Infrastructure Management, said: “Customers who pay good money to eat at restaurants should actually be served with what they believe they have paid for. Our view is that customers were being misled and not aware of the additional ingredients in the meal.
“I’m pleased that our observant trading standards team has been able to uncover this issue and hopefully it sends a strong message out to other restaurants, regardless of their size, that we will continue to check up on these issues to ensure customers in Swansea and elsewhere are being treated fairly.
“I’m also pleased the Magistrate has recognised the efforts of Swansea Council and our trading standards by commending the team.”
