Diners kebabbed by lost sheep

[17 May 2012] To what depths will some business people sink to rip off the public? Even hardened trading standards officials were shocked to find that more than a fifth of lamb curries served in Midlands restaurants lacked an important ingredient stated in perfectly plain language on the menu – lamb.

Only three of the 19 curries they bought contained lamb alone, the others being a mixture of lamb, beef, chicken and pork – not ideal for observant Hindus, Muslims and Jews (or anybody who thought lamb meant lamb). The fact that chicken is half the price of lamb seems to have had a lot to do with it.

Of 20 ‘lamb’ kebabs that were also tested, none at all contained lamb alone. One had 18 times more than the legal limit for artificial colourings, too.

Just as worrying for consumers is that the authorities are only ‘considering’ prosecuting the miscreants. That’s why this kind of fraud is so successful. Decent businesses that provide what they say on the menu have to price it properly to make a profit. Corrupt businesses that cheat their customers are unlikely to be found out and even less likely to be prosecuted, so they prosper. The bad drive out the good while the law enforcers sleep.