Two food wholesalers have been sentenced for selling non-halal chicken as halal in Wales.
Helim Miah was jailed for four years and eight months for fraudulent trading and breaching insolvency law. Noaf Rahman was given a two-year sentence, suspended for two years and ordered to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work.
Sentencing at Merthyr Crown Court followed an investigation by Cardiff and the Vale Shared Regulatory Services into Universal Foods (Wholesale), based on Bessemer Close in Cardiff.
Halal-labeled chicken was sold to Indian takeaways and restaurants across South Wales. However, investigations revealed that their suppliers often did not provide halal meat. The duo falsely marketed and distributed chicken as halal to unsuspecting customers.
Several other issues
Rahman pleaded guilty to three food hygiene offences while Miah, who pleaded not guilty, was prosecuted at Merthyr Crown Court in April 2025.
The case began in January 2019 when 2,840 kilograms of frozen meat was seized from the Bessemer Close site in Grangetown, Cardiff.
The investigation uncovered very poor food hygiene practices, evidence that some poultry had been defrosted and refrozen, chicken that was two years past its sell-by date, temperature records not kept up to date, pest activity at the business, and transporting unmarked meat in unclean vehicles that were not refrigerated or fit for purpose.
During the two-week trial, Miah claimed he only ran Universal Food Wholesale using pre-processed halal chicken and that all onsite processing was handled by a separate company, Universal Poultry Ltd, run by Rahman.
Miah denied involvement in the day-to-day processing but was found guilty of 10 charges including running a food business dishonestly by falsely selling non-Halal meat as Halal, mislabeling expiry dates, ignoring hygiene rules, and failing to track food origins thus putting public health at risk.
Impact of halal fraud
Judge Vanessa Francis said the fraud had a clear societal impact because if customers knew the meat they were buying wasn’t halal they would have been horrified.
“The meat that was seized from you wasn’t safe, that is why it was taken from you and made into pet food. By failing to keep your customers safe, this was a disaster that was waiting to happen, and it is a miracle that it didn’t happen,” the judge said.
Norma Mackie, cabinet member responsible for Shared Regulatory Services at Cardiff Council, said: “Eating halal is a requirement in the Islamic religion, and to take part in such a fraud shows the complete disregard these men had for the community. This case raises important questions about how food suppliers are held accountable for the accuracy of their halal claims, the need for greater consumer awareness, and the importance of verifying the authenticity of halal certifications.”
Confiscation order
In other news, the Food Standards Agency’s National Food Crime Unit (NFCU) has secured a confiscation order relating to the placing of unsafe food on the market in England.
A Proceeds of Crime Act confiscation hearing took place at Isleworth Crown Court in June, where Ian Thomas, 46, of Gorseinon Road, Penllergaer, Swansea, was ordered to pay more than £31,000 for involvement in the illegal slaughter, manufacture and distribution of smokies across England, Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland.
Smokies refers to skin-on sheep or goat meat, produced by singeing the fleece off the unskinned carcass, giving it a golden-brown color and smoky odor. Their production is illegal in the UK, resulting in the process being carried out in unapproved premises.
“This case shows that we’re not just content to prosecute those who commit food crime, we will also pursue them to recover the profits they made from their illegal activities and to recoup taxpayers’ money spent on investigating and prosecuting them,” said David Williams, senior financial investigator at the NFCU.
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