Food company boss hits back after products withdrawn

The owner of a Fife-based food company whose products were issued with a warning notice amid health fears over sell-by dates, has hit back saying he has been unfairly targeted.

Pies and bridies were withdrawn from sale after Food Standards Agency intervention

Naji Yassem, managing directory of Eat and Go Co Ltd in Kirkcaldy, said the Food Standards Scotland (FSS) decision to warn the public not to eat his company’s food products which include bridies, sausage rolls and sandwiches, was an “overreaction”.

The FSS issued an alert in connection to his company’s products which are sold in around 100 outlets in Fife, Edinburgh and Dundee, and also go under the name “SoloSnack”.

The company undertook a voluntary product recall on 10 December following an inspection. However, further products were then found on sale two days later in contravention of the notice served on the business.

Mr Yassem said: “I’ve been in business for 20 years and have always put a six-day date on the products. No-one has ever been ill. Until last Friday we had never had any problems with this. Then I got a visit from officials who said it must be three days only.

“That would mean I would spend one day in production, one day on deliveries and then the products would only be on sale in the shops for one day only.

“So, I went back to the six-day date.

“The whole thing is ridiculous. It seems to me that they make the rules up as they go along.”

The FSS has asked local councils to identify businesses likely to stock the company’s products and withdraw them from sale.

Mr Yassem added that he has commissioned tests from a private laboratory to prove that the public would not be at risk from using his products.