Trading Standards and Environmental Health Officers from City of Westminster Council have joined forces to remove more than 600 illegal confectionery products from sale following the raid of an ‘American candy’ shop on Oxford Street.
Products including cereals, crisps and fizzy drinks containing additives, colourings and e-numbers banned in the UK were found during the raid on 6 September, and will now be incinerated. Trading Standards Officers also found illicit Lucky Charms Cereal, KitKats, Lion Bars and a variety of bottled drinks including Mirinda and Fanta, all containing potentially harmful ingredients.
The illegal products seized will now be destroyed (image credit: City of Westminster Council)
Several of the products were not labelled in English, making it hard for consumers to see vital information such as sell by dates or allergen content.
In total Officers seized 676 items with a value of £2,852.75.
The same business was previously found to be selling Swedish Fish and Hot Tamales sweets, which are banned in the UK due to the impact their additive ingredients can have on children. In the last three months alone, 2,374 non-compliant products from the premises were seized and destroyed.
At Westminster Magistrates Court on 1 October, the destruction of the goods was ordered and £3,110.25 was awarded. The business is required to pay for the destruction.
Leader of Westminster City Council, Councillor Adam Hug, said: “We are continuing to make the lives of unscrupulous traders a nightmare through regular enforcement action and putting pressure on landlords. This collection of illegal sweets was enough to send a shiver down anyone’s spine.
“There are more raids coming in the next few weeks, so I hope traders who seem happy to sell illegal goods to children are ready for a fright.”
