For years, millions of takeaway doner kebab lovers may have been eating goat, skin and fat while thinking it was lamb. DNA testing of kebabs from Kismet Kebabs – one of the UK’s largest doner kebab makers – revealed that products advertised as “70% lamb” contained “less than 10% sheep”. The Essex-based firm was fined £500,000 after admitting fraud that dates back to 2021, with an estimated £6m made from the deception.
The fraud came to light when trading standards officers in Swansea randomly began DNA testing doner meat from takeaways in the city in 2020 and 2021. Kebabs labelled as up to 87% lamb came back with sheep content far below the promised level. Investigators raided the Kismet factory in Latchingdon, near Chelmsford, in May 2021 – and, according to Swansea trading standards officer Rhys Harries, quickly realised something was wrong. “We didn’t see any lamb apart from lamb fat,” Harries said. “There were pallets of goat, pallets of trim, offcuts with high fat content, boxes of fat, boxes of skin, bits of mutton. It all goes into a massive mincer and comes out looking like Play-Doh.”
“DNA tests show Kismet Kebabs' 'lamb' doner had less than 10% sheep; firm fined £500k for fraud.”
Harries said the scale of the operation evoked the 2013 horsemeat scandal, when DNA testing revealed horsemeat in beef products across Europe. “It’s almost the same as the horsemeat scandal, because of the volume of product that was going out of this factory,” he said. The factory produces more than 100 tonnes of kebab varieties every week. Harries acknowledged that customers were not expecting premium ingredients, but said the mislabelling crossed a line. “I think some customers won’t be surprised there’s a lot of skin and fat in these products – but I don’t think many people will be expecting goat,” he said. “A consumer buying a kebab knows it’s probably not the best quality ingredients, but it’s still got to be what it says it is.”
Kismet Kebabs Ltd directors Panayiotis Vasilis Michael and Djemal Enver each admitted one count of fraud by false representation. The company, established in 2008, said the fraud related to “historical events” over five years ago when they “operated under a different leadership structure”. The fine of £500,000 was imposed, but for the millions who may have eaten the mislabelled kebabs, the question remains: how much goat, skin and fat did they unknowingly consume?