Maidenhead deli manager fined over non-English food labels

A Maidenhead deli manager has been fined for selling food with non-English labels.

Bartosz Rybka, the manager of Pierozek Polish Deli, in Market Street, has been fined £1,000, told to pay £500 costs and £100 victim surcharge after an investigation by the council’s trading standards team.

Rybka admitted to failing to comply with an improvement notice which was issued at Reading Magistrates Court on Wednesday, February 3.

The deli sells mostly Polish products, but the law states that food products must be labelled in English. This is to protect members of the public from inadvertently consuming allergens.

In several visits to the shop, food products were repeatedly found to not be labelled in English. Officers gave advice and issued warnings before the improvement notice was issued.

A later visit again found that products were not labelled in English, which lead to Rybka’s prosecution.

Councillor David Cannon, lead member for public protection, said: “This demonstrates the persistence of the Royal Borough’s trading standards team in protecting residents from potentially catastrophic consequences.

“It also shows that we want to work with businesses to offer advice and guidance on the law before having to take enforcement action.”