Krispy Kreme has been fined £216,000 after a sharp piece of metal was found in a doughnut.
The business was prosecuted by Melton Borough Council which was first contacted about the incident in April 2021.
The complainant had originally contacted Krispy Kreme but were informed by the company, according to the council, that the foreign object was a piece of foil from the packaging. However, they disputed this claim and raised their concerns with the Food Standard Agency (FSA).
Krispy Kreme UK Ltd later revealed it had received two further complaints of similar nature and had identified damage to a piece of equipment – a vari-mixer. However, the authority said, “no controls were in place that could have mitigated the hazards that lead to this incident, such as metal detection or recorded checks of the machine”.
Tom Pickwell, senior solicitor at Melton Borough Council, told the court: “The council would expect a large national company to have appropriate measures in place to ensure the food safety and hygiene throughout the whole process of the manufacturing, including checks on all equipment.
“The fact that the vari-mixer was omitted from the checks does, in the view of the council, fall short of the appropriate levels and a suitable and sufficient safety management system.”
Pickwell added that although some systems were in place “they were not sufficient to deal with the full process which led to the incident”. He also noted the incident presented a risk of choking or cutting of the mouth.
In sentencing, the magistrates said they had considered the quality of the equipment, the substantial risk it posed to any customer and size of the item and the serious injury that could have happened if it had been swallowed. They also accepted the mitigation put forward by Iain MacDonald, who represented Krispy Kreme, and took that into account when sentencing.
Alongside the £216,000 fine, based on £72,000 for each of the three offences, Krispy Kreme was ordered to pay a £181 victim surcharge and the council was awarded its full costs of £4,225.30.
A spokesperson for Krispy Kreme UK said: “We apologise unreservedly for this incident and for any upset caused to the affected customer.
“We fully accept the outcome and lessons learnt from this process, and appreciate the support and input from our primary authority, Surrey Heath Borough.
“Krispy Kreme are committed to high standards of health, safety, quality, and hygiene, and we have put in place additional controls that will help prevent an issue like this occurring again.”
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