Oxford Street candy shop’s illegal goods seized and destroyed in raid

A candy shop on Oxford Street has had over 600 illegal items, including American cereals, crisps, and fizzy drinks, seized and destroyed following a raid by Westminster City Council’s Environmental Health team. The goods, valued at more than £2,800, contained additives, colorings, and e-numbers either banned in the UK or exceeding legal limits.

The raid, which took place on 6 September, uncovered several products without English labels, making it impossible for consumers to verify ingredients, sell-by dates, or allergens. Among the items confiscated were Lucky Charms cereal, which had double the UK’s legal limit for artificial food coloring, and sweets like Swedish Fish and Hot Tamales, which are banned in the country.

This is not the first incident involving the store, as it had previously been found selling carcinogenic American sweets in February. In total, 2,374 non-compliant products have been destroyed in the past three months. Adam Hug, leader of Westminster City Council, emphasized that the council will continue to crack down on traders selling illegal goods, with more raids planned in the coming weeks.