Restaurant menu falsely described salmon, crab and cockles
DINERS at the exclusive Foyles restaurant thought they were eating the most rarefied of locally sourced ingredients.
The highly rated institution in the riverside village near to Hay-on-Wye promised salmon and trout caught locally in the river Wye.
It offered spider crab from Cardigan Bay and cockles from the famous Gower village, Penclawdd.
Except that the restaurant had made a mistake. It is virtually impossible to legally buy salmon caught on the river Wye as Natural Resources Wales insists that “all salmon and sea trout must be returned with minimum injury and minimum delay” to protect the fish populations of the rivers.
The menu was spotted by baffled officials from the Welsh environmental body who contacted Powys Council’s trading standards, which led to an investigation that ultimately saw the well-known restaurant’s owners taken to court.
The trading standards probe disclosed that the restaurant was instead dishing up mass-produced farmed salmon and trout, Dutch cockles and crabs that had never seen the waters of west Wales.
They were masquerading as the more rarefied ingredients that had all been advertised on menus, its website and social media accounts.
When she appeared before Llandrindod Wells Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, Linda Dewan, a partner in the restaurant, pleaded guilty to four charges under the Food Safety Act and one charge under consumer protection regulations.
In a statement issued after the case, Foyles said: “These matters arose from a turbulent time for the Foyles of Glasbury business in the summer of 2016 with a high turnover of staff at that time.
“Foyles are pleased to be able to put this issue behind them and look forward to growing the business. Since the matters of nearly 18 months ago under the control of an acting manager, one of the partners, Ms Dewan, has decided to take over the general management with the support of a loyal and stable team.
“We would like to assure our customers that the menus in question were withdrawn on the day of the visit. Foyles is open daily offering an extensive menu of food and drink.”
Dewan was ordered to pay more than £7,430 in fines and costs – which included a £500 fine for each offence under the Food Safety Act and full prosecution costs of £5,380.
Jonathan Wilkinson, Powys Council’s cabinet member for trading standards, said: “We must protect the public from false descriptions and support businesses that comply. Our trading standards team will act on intelligence to investigate businesses and, when in the public interest, pursue matters at court.
“The provenance of the food we eat is increasingly important to consumers; it’s vital that if food is described as being locally sourced, consumers can purchase this with confidence.”
Clive Jones, of the council’s trading stardards team, said: “I commend our officers for the way they have conducted themselves over this complex investigation. Businesses have to get their descriptions correct and must not mislead consumers by false descriptions, otherwise they could end up being in breach of important fair trading and food safety.”