An Indian restaurant in Uxbridge has been fined more than £40,000 after a customer suffered a severe allergic reaction due to undeclared allergens in a meal.
JR Uxbridge Ltd, trading as Javitri, located at 112 High Street, was ordered to pay £43,816 following a Hillingdon Council investigation into food safety breaches. The company appeared at Uxbridge Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday 22 April and pleaded guilty to five offences under health and safety, food information, and food hygiene regulations.
The court issued a fine of £35,000, a £5,000 victim surcharge, and required the business to pay the council’s prosecution costs of £3,816.
Hillingdon Council officers launched an investigation on 26 June 2024 after receiving a complaint from a customer with a nut allergy. The individual had ordered food from the restaurant and experienced a severe allergic reaction that led to hospitalisation.
Officers found multiple failings, including loosely stored nuts in the kitchen, incomplete menu descriptions, and staff uncertainty over recipes. This was despite employees having completed the Food Standards Agency’s allergen training earlier that month.
A follow-up inspection on 16 July found that little progress had been made, prompting the council to issue an improvement notice requiring accurate allergen information to be submitted by 13 August.
When officers returned the following day, they were shown an allergen menu intended for customers, but it still contained inaccuracies and was described as confusing. The restaurant was asked to provide a revised version by 21 August, but the documents submitted were deemed inadequate. No further revisions were received despite multiple requests.
Cllr Eddie Lavery, Hillingdon Council’s Cabinet Member for Community and Environment, said: “It’s a legal responsibility for all food businesses to provide accurate allergen information to customers and ensure what they are producing and selling is safe. This case shows that failing to do so can have severe consequences for people with allergies.
“Our food standards team works hard to protect residents from harm through routine inspections, educating businesses, serving improvement notices and if required taking legal action against businesses that neglect their responsibilities. Let this be a warning to businesses that they need to operate in line with regulations or they will be fined.”
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