Champneys ‘told guests its apple crumble beat cancer’
Luxury spa due before court on string of food safety charges
CHAMPNEYS has been accused of making misleading claims about the benefits of its food, including that apple crumble can ‘ help reduce the risk of cancer’.
The luxury spa chain, a favourite of Princess Diana’s, allegedly made the statement on its food menu.
Despite saying on its website that it ‘ steers away from all the fads and fallacies’ to ‘keep things honest and enjoyable’, it made a string of claims including that a black rice, quinoa and ginger salad was ‘anti-inflammatory’.
Champneys also allegedly failed to tell guests, who pay up to £230 a night, about allergens in its restaurant food including gluten, mustard, eggs and soybean.
And it is accused of selling a ‘vegan’ tofu pad thai dish containblack ing milk. The chain, which was also visited by the Beckhams, Kylie Minogue, Brad Pitt, Dame Helen Mirren and Daniel Craig, allegedly did not tell guests at its Forest Mere resort in Liphook, West Sussex, it had a food hygiene rating of just two out of five.
Champneys denies all the charges. Its representatives were due to appear in court yesterday after West Sussex County Council launched a prosecution against it on 19 charges relating to food safety, information, nutrition and consumer protection laws.
The maximum penalty is either an unlimited fine, up to six months in jail or a combination of both.
The case at Brighton magistrates’ court was adjourned after neither Champneys nor the council turned up.
District judge Amanda Kelly said: ‘ I’m rather annoyed. There are no words.’
The chain is charged with breaching nutrition and health claims laws for the health claims it made about its apple crumble, its rice, quinoa and ginger salad and its hummus which it said was ‘high in soluble fibre’ and a ‘source of beneficial phytoestrogens’.
It it also accused of failing to declare allergens, including mustard in a caesar salad, soybean in pan fried sea bass dish, egg in a braised beef dish, gluten in broccoli and tofu fritters, sulphites in a vegan bread and butter dessert and milk in a vegan pad thai.
Champneys, which says its philosophy is about ‘ healthy, delicious and beautiful food’, has also been charged with misleading diners by not telling them it had a food hygiene rating of two.
It has also been charged with false labelling for allegedly claiming its caesar salad did not contain parmesan and its vegan pad thai did not contain milk.
Additional charges relate to allegations that it knowingly or recklessly falsely claimed foods did not contain allergens. The case was adjourned until later this week.