An ethnic food supplier who sold Bulgarian salami that was nearly half horsemeat to a Dartford convenience store, has been fined £5,000.

In the first case of its kind in the UK since the horsemeat scandal broke in January 2013, Expo Foods was yesterday successfully prosecuted for supplying an equine food product to a Dartford branch of Londis.

In September 2013 the north London firm supplied a variety of Bulgarian salami known as Lukanka Chumerna, which was found to contain 45.8 per cent horsemeat following a Kent County Council Trading Standards investigation.

Bulgarian meat producers Aktual came “highly recommended” to Expo by supermarket owners in the eastern European country, Dartford Magistrates’ Court heard.

On the strength of these endorsements the company, based in Green Lanes, began ordering meat from Aktual in 2010 and in September last year, purchased 20kg of the Lukanka Chumerna sausage, which is meant to contain only veal, pork, vegetable fibres and herbs.

Following the sentencing KCC Trading Standards manager Richard Strawson said: “Expo didn’t check anything before we got involved.

“You don’t import a lot of meat products from suppliers in eastern Europe without carrying out some sort of checks, whether that is sampling or asking for certificates and reassurances.

“There was 46 per cent horsemeat in this product, which is a very high level and the highest we have ever found in Kent.

“I don’t think the public want that in their food.”

The court heard how KCC carried out an informal test on a similar Aktual product in August last year and found it to contain two per cent horsemeat.

This prompted KCC Trading Standards officer Rebecca Simmons to visit the Londis branch in Market Street in Dartford after the chain took delivery of the tainted sausage on September 19 last year.

Under UK law it is the supplier, and not the shop selling the product, which is liable for prosecution if it is defective.

One of the pieces of sausage tested, made by Aktual and supplied by Expo Foods, was found to contain the high levels of horsemeat.

Prosecuting on behalf of KCC, Sarah Beasley told magistrates: “Expo had relied on the brand name rather than doing any testing themselves.

“It is acknowledged that Expo is a relatively small company and has more than 2,000 product lines and cannot afford to test them all.

“But no matter how large or how small the company may be, customers must have confidence in the food they buy and reassurance that it is safe.”

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The sausage was found to be nearly 50 per cent horsemeat. 

As well as Bulgaria, Expo sources food from countries including Romania, Hungary, Holland, Turkey and Italy, the court heard.

Managing director Ozgur Yilmaz represented the company in court and was defended by Andrew Lester.

Mr Lester said: “Aktual was a company that came highly recommended and was not just plucked out of the ether.

“The batch which came to Trading Standards was a bad batch and is not indicative of the product supplied by Aktual.

“Aktual have been asked why there was horsemeat in the product and as of yet they are as surprised as my client.”

Mr Lester told magistrates Expo had contacted all customers to which it sold the sausage so it could be withdrawn from shelves immediately after being notified of the test results in November last year.

The company ran its own tests on a sample of the same batch examined by KCC and found it to contain only 29 per cent horsemeat, Mr Bowling said.

He also claimed the company managed to sell only 3kg of the salami, while up to 17kg was still sitting at Expo’s warehouse at the time Mr Yilmaz was told of the test results.

Mr Lester said: “This was not a great seller and was not taken up well by my client’s customers.

“While it’s been unfortunate, and a small blip, Expo has dealt with these matters, when made aware of them, with decisive and appropriate action.

“They have improved their checking and due diligence of the suppliers of the products they import.”

Mr Yilmaz pleaded guilty to one charge of selling food not of the nature, substance or quality demanded by the purchaser, contrary to section 14 of the Food Safety Act 1990.

Branding Mr Yilmaz’s company “negligent”, chair of the bench Christine Rose and her two fellow magistrates fined Expo £5,000, imposed costs of £2,500 and ordered a £120 victim surcharge be paid.

Mr Yilmaz made no comment as he left court.

Manager of Londis in Market Street, Nimit Patel, aged 34, said: "We have taken it off the shelves now.

"Suppliers should have checks in place so it doesn't affect people like us - the suppliers we have now do regular checks and keep us informed of the results.

"It hasn't affected the business negatively - the only complaints we've had are from our Bulgarian customers who can't get their favourite salami anymore."