A chef at an Indian restaurant in the UK has been fined more than £2,300 after traces of peanut were found in a "nut free" chicken korma curry, Metro.co.uk reports.
The 44-year-old chef Mohammed Uddin of Masala Indian Cuisine pleaded guilty to selling the contaminated dish, which contained 6.8 milligrammes of peanuts - enough to cause someone with an allergy to suffer a potentially fatal anaphylactic shock.
The chef of Grimsby-based restaurant claimed he could not explain how the peanuts ended up in the korma but accepted there had been cross-contamination.
Prosecutor Marcus Hirst told the court how in January 2016, a test carried out by North East Lincolnshire Council's Trading Standards team revealed a korma dish sold at the restaurant contained traces of peanut.
Another check two months later also showed similar results.
The council then visited the restaurant and handed them the results along with letters containing advice about food contamination.
In October 2016, a Trading Standards officer went undercover as a customer and ordered a ‘nut-free’ Chicken Korma dish from Masala Indian Cuisine.
Mr Hirst said: "The sample was sent away for analysis...the dish provided at least 6.8 milligrammes of peanuts. Anything above 5 milligrammes could result in reaction for a high risk individual.
Mr Uddin was interviewed who said he had not put peanuts in the meal.
"He could not understand where the peanuts had come from. He said he used fresh pans and utensils for the order and said he does not use peanuts except for peanut butter for the butter chicken dish.
"He said he orders all the ingredients himself. He has been a chef for 25 years," the prosecutor told the court.
In mitigation, solicitor Kate Fairburn said the chef Uddin was "horrified" by the results and had taken steps to clamp down on cross-contamination.
"Obviously the defendant was horrified by what had been found and he said changes have been made to make sure such a thing won't happen again," she said.
Uddin pleaded guilty to selling food not of the nature substance/quality demanded by the purchaser and failing to comply with EU provision concerning food safety and hygiene.
Both he and company Grimsby Spice Ltd, of which he is a director of, were fined £800.
Uddin was also ordered to pay combined costs of £1,466 and victim surcharges of £60.
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