A factory worker who willfully contaminated food products intended for Nando’s restaurants has been sentenced to jail. Garry Jones, an employee at a Worcestershire food manufacturing facility, has been found guilty of knowingly and maliciously tampering with food items by adding plastic bags, rubber gloves, and metal ring pulls to them.
Jones confessed to contaminating goods, including hummus and salad dressings, which were destined for Nando’s establishments. As a result of his actions, he has been sentenced to three years in prison.
The manufacturer involved, Harvey & Brockless, has confirmed that none of the tampered products, which were discovered in October 2022, reached the end customers. The 39-year-old Jones was employed as a “picker” at the company’s Evesham location, responsible for gathering the necessary ingredients for the next day’s food production, according to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).
In late October of the previous year, the company became aware that numerous products supplied to restaurants across the country had been contaminated with rubber gloves, plastic bags, and metal ring pulls. An internal investigation unveiled further tampering with boxes, leading the company to conclude that an employee was responsible. This discovery prompted the involvement of the police.
The use of a metal detector on products before leaving the kitchen area ruled out contamination during the production process, suggesting that it must have occurred within the factory’s storage area, as per the CPS. CCTV footage within the factory revealed Jones deliberately tampering with containers of hummus and salad dressings when he was alone.
Jones was arrested on November 10 and subsequently admitted to officers that he had combined fish sauce with soy sauce on one occasion. Harvey & Brockless emphasized that the majority of the affected products did not reach their final destinations and that any items that did were promptly returned before reaching consumers.
The manufacturer has since taken measures to enhance security, including the installation of additional CCTV cameras to cover all areas comprehensively.
Mehree Kamranfar, senior crown prosecutor for CPS West Midlands, described the case as “extremely disturbing” and highlighted the potential far-reaching implications had Jones not been apprehended. She noted that Jones’s actions could have posed a severe threat to individuals with allergies and had the potential to damage the reputation of Harvey & Brockless.
In addition to his prison sentence for contaminating goods, Jones received an additional nine-month consecutive sentence for a burglary charge related to a break-in at a colleague’s house, during which he stole a pink hairbrush.