UK bride gets 'potentially deadly' wedding cake - then maker refuses refund

UK bride gets 'potentially deadly' wedding cake - then maker refuses refund The problem was spotted after kitchen staff at the wedding venue in Cornwall realised there were pieces of plastic between layers of icing A bride in Cornwall was given a "potentially life-threatening" wedding cake containing traces of nuts when her partner had a severe allergy - with the maker then refusing to give a refund. The issue was only discovered after staff at the wedding venue found pieces of plastic in the dessert and the customer complained to her local council when she didn't get her money back. Faye Selway of the Natural Cake Company, based in Wadebridge, has now pleaded guilty at Bodmin Magistrates Court to four charges under the Food Safety Act 1990 and the Food Safety and Hygiene (England) Regulations 2013. The case was brought by Cornwall Council following the plastic contamination complaint in April. Kitchen staff at the wedding venue had found pieces of plastic between the icing layers when the cake was cut to serve to the guests. Because of this, the cake was not served for fear of further pieces of plastic being in the cake. It was discovered that Selway, 49, of Glen Road, Wadebridge, had given the customer both written and verbal assurance that the cake would be nut free and made in a completely nut free environment at her cake studio. This was vital, the council said, as one of the brides has a severe nut allergy and, in the past, had been hospitalised with anaphylaxis. Further investigations revealed that the cake was not made in the studio, but in a domestic kitchen, which could not be the nut free environment that was crucial to the brides. The court heard Selway had left the cake studio nine months before she took the order for the dessert, knowing full well that it would not be made in a dedicated studio. Neither the cake studio or Selway's domestic kitchen were registered with Cornwall Council as a food business, which is required by law and therefore had not been subjected to any food safety checks, which would, the authority said "have included allergen control and assessing allergen claims". Selway had been advised in writing by the council when she was considering setting up the cake studio that she would need to register as a food business if she pursued the venture and was therefore fully aware of the requirement. The council said that had the plastic not been in the cake, and it was served at the wedding, the potential for nut contamination could have had catastrophic results. Masgistrates fined Selway £896 and ordered her to pay the council’s costs of £3,067 totalling £3963.