A United Kingdom court has handed a suspended prison sentence to a Ghanaian businessman, Stephen Akuoko, after he was found guilty of storing fish in unsanitary conditions and selling ready-made meals to local shops.
Akuoko, who operated under the name Tribal Foods in Watford, Hertfordshire, supplied food products to supermarkets and corner shops for over three years.
Authorities said the meals were sold with excessively long use-by dates and lacked proper ingredient labelling, with investigators later describing the products as unfit for human consumption.
The case came to light after the local council’s environmental health team launched an investigation into the business but initially struggled to trace its location.
ALSO READ:50 sweet ways Nigerians can say ‘I love you’ without being boring
A breakthrough occurred in October 2024 when a fire broke out at Akuoko’s residence. Firefighters responding to the incident discovered large quantities of fish stored in a bathtub and on the bathroom floor next to a toilet, raising serious hygiene concerns.
Akuoko later pleaded guilty to two food safety offences at St Albans Crown Court.
He was sentenced to two years in prison, suspended for two years, and banned from operating any food business for five years.
Prosecutor Michael Coley told the court that investigators initially encountered difficulty tracking down the operation, adding that Akuoko reacted aggressively when authorities eventually made contact with him by phone.