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BAKERY MADE TO RAISE THE DOUGH
One of the UK’s biggest bakeries has been fined £12,400 by Bexley Magistrates after pleading guilty to providing underweight bread for sale.
British Bakeries at Belmont Road, Erith is part of the RHM Group Limited which supplies about one third of the UK’s daily bread including brands such as Hovis, Nimble and Mothers Pride.
A Bexley Council Trading Standards officer discovered the underweight bread during a routine visit to Marks and Spencer’s in Bexleyheath last year. He weighed 25 large pre-packed loaves and found them to be on average 9.7g under the declared weight of 800g. This was more than the acceptable permitted nominal weight.
The M&S Food Manager told the inspector the loaves were delivered to the store on 11th July last year from British Bakeries.
On 14th July, Trading Standards Officers made a pre-arranged visit to British Bakeries and were told there had been a machine fault and the team responsible for monitoring the weighing of the bread had not picked up the short weight batch.
Weighing computers had not been synchronised accurately and the finished bread-weighing machine was found to have a ‘repeatability error’.
Though the company instructions themselves required 100 loaves to be weighed each hour, documentation from the date in question (10th July 2006) showed that only 20 loaves had been weighed over a period of one hour and nine minutes.
The inspection revealed that company instructions were not being followed at the time, particularly in relation to the frequency of weighing and there was no effective auditing or checking system in place to ensure that procedures were being followed.
Magistrates were told that after the investigation, the company had cooperated fully with Bexley Council and confirmed that steps were being taken to address the problems.
AWARD WINNING PLANS
The Met Police launched its summer crackdown on drink and drug driving this month in support of the Association of Chief Police Officers’ (ACPO) Summer Drink and Drug Driving Enforcement Campaign.
The month long campaign will see traffic officers out in force combating the seasonal increase in drink and drug drive offences.
Slowing the traffic flow down, they will select and stop vehicles to carry out checks on vehicles and drivers. Drivers will be given drink and drug drive advice by the roadside and if an officer suspects them of an alcohol offence, they will be breath tested.
Where a driver has passed a breath test but does not seem alert, officers have been trained to detect drug use through field impairment testing, and, under new legislation, drivers can be arrested for refusing to take the tests.
The MPS Traffic Unit is committed to ensuring that those who break the law will be prosecuted.
Ch Supt David Snelling, of the MPS Traffic Unit, said:
“Most people like to enjoy an evening in the pub or in the garden with friends in the summer months. But if you drive home the consequences could ruin your life and the lives of others.
“Drink and drugs seriously affects the ability to judge speed and distances, reduces concentration and slows reactions. The chances of being involved in a collision are significantly increased - which may result in serious injury or death.
As well as these dangers, you may lose your job as a result or job or end up in prison. The safest option is not to drink at all if you plan to drive.”
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