A company that supplied kebabs to takeaways across the UK has been fined £500,000 after a court heard its “lamb” products contained little actual lamb – and were instead largely made of skin, fat, goat and mutton.
Swansea Crown Court was told that Kismet Kebabs Ltd, based in Chelmsford, Essex, routinely bought cheap meats and animal waste, processed them at its factory, and then labelled the result as lamb. The firm had even won Best Supplier of the Year at the 2021 British Kebab Awards.
“Kismet Kebabs fined £500,000 for selling 'lamb' kebabs made mostly of skin, fat, goat and mutton.”
Prosecutor Lee Reynolds, acting for Swansea Council, said: “Much of what was being described as lamb was in fact skin and fat. Despite selling ‘lamb kebabs’ to takeaways and restaurants all over the UK they in fact purchased little or no lamb whatsoever.”
The deception came to light after a regional sampling exercise by Swansea Council’s trading standards team in late 2020 and early 2021. Tests on kebabs from local takeaways found the meat content did not match the labels. Further samples from wholesalers confirmed the fraud: lab results showed “actual meat differed significantly” from what was declared.
On 20 May 2021, a multi-agency team led by Swansea trading standards raided the Kismet Kebabs factory. Officers found no lamb on site – only “significant quantities” of lamb fat, skin, goat, mutton, ovine meat, and mechanically reclaimed products. Recipe cards showed barely any lamb going into the “lamb” kebabs.
In one case, a lamb doner advertised as containing 87% lamb was found to contain just 51% meat and 40% fat. The company had a “long history” of complaints through a Primary Authority Partnership with Essex County Council, which eventually terminated the arrangement over a “lack” of compliance.
Judge, describing the conduct as “considerable dishonesty” over a prolonged period, fined Kismet Kebabs £500,000 and ordered it to pay £259,298 in prosecution costs. The company has been given four years to pay.