Millions of takeaway doner kebab lovers who thought they were eating lamb may have been tucking into goat, skin and fat instead. DNA testing by trading standards officers in Swansea uncovered that kebabs from Kismet Kebabs, one of the UK's largest doner kebab makers, contained less than 10% sheep – despite being advertised as up to 87% lamb.
The fraud, which the Essex-based company admitted, dates back to 2021. Kismet Kebabs, which produces more than 100 tonnes of kebab varieties every week, was fined £500,000 and is estimated to have made £6m from the deception. Directors Panayiotis Vasilis Michael and Djemal Enver each admitted one count of fraud by false representation.
“DNA tests show Kismet Kebabs' 'lamb' doner kebabs contained less than 10% sheep; firm fined £500k.”
The investigation began when trading standards officers in Swansea started randomly DNA testing doner meat from takeaways in the city in 2020 and 2021. Kebabs labelled as containing 70% lamb came back showing “less than 10% sheep”. Officers raided the Kismet factory in Latchingdon, near Chelmsford, in May 2021 and found no lamb being delivered. “We didn't see any lamb apart from lamb fat,” said Rhys Harries, Swansea trading standards officer. “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.”
Harries compared the scale of the fraud to the 2013 horsemeat scandal, when horsemeat was found 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. He acknowledged that many consumers are aware takeaway kebabs may not be top quality, but stressed the importance of accurate labelling: “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.”
Kismet Kebabs said the fraud related to “historical events” over five years ago when they “operated under a different leadership structure”. The company had advertised and labelled its lamb doner kebabs as containing up to 87% lamb depending on the variety. Investigators found that takeaways across the UK had unknowingly bought the mislabelled product for years. The case raises uncomfortable questions about how much of the nation's fast food is exactly what it claims to be.