Hundreds of litres of banned ghee were found at a Southall food importer during an Ealing Council investigation, leading to fines totalling more than £20,000 for the firm, its director and its company secretary.
Uxbridge magistrates’ court heard last week (20 January 2026) that Swadi Products UK Limited, which trades from Endsleigh Road in Southall, had imported and sold ghee produced in India. Dairy products made in India are banned from entering the UK and EU because the country does not have an approved milk residue monitoring plan for exports.
The firm, its director Amrik Panesar and its company secretary Preeti Panesar pleaded guilty to bringing animal products into England without using a designated border control post, failing to provide information requested by enforcement officers, and failing to identify suppliers and customers.
The court fined Swadi Products UK Limited £4,000 and ordered it to pay £1,694 in costs and a £1,600 victim surcharge. Mr Panesar was fined £4,000 and ordered to pay the same additional costs, while Mrs Panesar was fined £2,666 and ordered to pay £1,694 in costs and a £1,066 victim surcharge. Both individuals now have criminal records.
The court heard that Ealing council officers visited the premises in March 2025 following a referral from the Food Standards Agency. During the inspection, officers discovered 444 tins of Amul-branded ghee labelled “for sale in India only”.
Investigators were told the ghee had been bought from another business, but checks with Leicester City Council and Companies House found no record of the named supplier. Officers later found tins of the same product on sale at Western Cash and Carry in Southall, supported by an invoice identifying Swadi Products as the supplier.
All seized ghee was removed and later destroyed.
Councillor Kamaljit Nagpal said: “All food businesses must follow the law to protect public health. These rules exist for good reasons and flagrantly ignoring them is unacceptable. We will always take the strongest possible action against any businesses in the borough that break these rules.”
