An Auckland food producer and its manager have been fined a total of NZD16,500 after failing to keep records required under their Food Control Plan.

Soma & Sons Limited, trading as Tasty Foods, and manager Bhavesh Soma, 34, appeared in the Auckland District Court on 20 January, facing two charges under the Food Act.

They were prosecuted by New Zealand Food Safety for not recording temperatures as specified in their plan.

Soma & Sons Ltd was fined $13,500, and Mr Soma was fined $3,000.

New Zealand Food Safety deputy director general, Vincent Arbuckle, says Soma & Sons is an experienced food producer that is required to record cooling and cooking temperatures for its samosas.

“The rules are there for a reason – to protect consumer health and the vast majority of food businesses do the right thing. Good record keeping is an important part of a food safety culture and ensures that if there was a food safety risk to consumers, we’d be able to access records and quickly find the origin. Poor record keeping makes this challenging and increases the risk to people’s health.”

Under New Zealand regulations, all food businesses must have a Food Control Plan and keep records for at least four years.

In March 2021, a trade-level food recall was undertaken because fully cooked samosas on site were stored at an unsafe temperature, with no cooking and cooling records available.

An investigation found Soma & Sons Ltd failed to record temperatures on four occasions between 2020 and 2022.

Mr Arbuckle says there is no known case of illness linked to these products.

He adds, “While we are not aware of anyone becoming ill from eating these products, the absence of records means there is no assurance that the plan is being followed. New Zealand Food Safety visited Soma & Sons Ltd several times and made it clear what was required, but they deliberately failed to act. It’s very disappointing to see this disregard for consumer health. New Zealand Food Safety will continue to hold such businesses to account to ensure consumers are protected and to demonstrate to the vast majority of food businesses that do the right thing, that the overall system is being monitored.”

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