More than 20 foods recalled over peanut fears, says UK watchdog

More than 20 dips and seasonings, including Domino’s Pizza’s BBQ dip, have been recalled over fears that may they contain undeclared peanuts, the food watchdog has said.The Food Standards Authority (FSA) has called on consumers to return a range of dips, curry powders and seasonings produced by the company FGS Ingredients over concerns that they may contain the allergen when it was not listed on their labels.The products include Domino’s BBQ Dip but also a number of seasonings and curry powders with the Favourit and Dunnes Store labels, as well as some Westmorland Family Butchery sausages and burgers.It is the second recall of items from the Leicester-based company in recent weeks: 70 of its products were recalled in September over concerns that those containing mustard could also include undeclared nuts.FGS said following the recall that it had carried out additional testing and had “not detected any presence of peanut content or residue”, but advised retailers to remove products from sale containing the mustard ingredients

Volkswagen fined £5.4m for mistreating customers; UK interest rates ‘to fall to 2.75%’ next year – as it happened

German carmaker Volkswagen’s financial services arm has been fined by UK competition regulators for mistreating customers in financial difficulties.The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has fined Volkswagen Financial Services (UK) Limited £5,397,600 for failing to treat its over 100,000 customers in financial difficulty fairly.VWFS has agreed to pay over £21.5m in redress to around 110,000 customers who may have suffered harm because of its failings.VWFS is one of the UK’s largest motor finance providers, and provides a range of products to help customers buy several well-known motor brands, including Volkswagen, Skoda and Porsche

VW fined £5.4m for mistreating vulnerable UK car finance customers

Volkswagen has been forced to pay customers £21.5m in compensation on top of a fine of £5.4m for failing to treat struggling customers fairly, including repossessing vehicles from people who had attempted suicide or were caring for sick relatives.The UK financial regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), said 110,000 customers had suffered detriment because of the unfair actions of Volkswagen Financial Services (VWFS), which is wholly owned by the German carmaker.The vast majority of new cars in the UK are bought using some form of finance, and much of it is offered through “captive” companies owned by carmakers

France warns US buyer of Sanofi division of penalties for shifting production abroad

The French government has warned a US private equity firm buying the consumer healthcare arm of the drugmaker Sanofi that it faces penalties of more than €100m if it does not keep production and jobs in France.Sanofi is splitting off Opella, which makes the paracetamol brand Doliprane, the laxative Dulcolax and other over-the-counter medicines and vitamins. However, news of talks with the New York-based Clayton, Dubilier & Rice on 11 October prompted fears about French jobs and the loss of control to a foreign company.On Monday, Sanofi announced that it had entered exclusive negotiations with CD&R for the sale of a 50% stake in the consumer business, valuing it at €16bn. However, France’s state-owned investment bank, Bpifrance, will also take a 2% stake and a seat on Opella’s board

Serial returners send back £6.6bn of online purchases a year in UK, report finds

Shoppers with a habit of returning goods bought online to retailers will send back £1,400 of products each this year, totalling £6.6bn, a UK report has found.Serial returners account for 11% of shoppers, but are on course to account for almost a quarter of the £27bn forecast returns this year, according to the report by the return logistics company ZigZag and the research company Retail Economics.Serial and slow returners, who are considered to be more impulsive shoppers, often making returns out of buyer’s remorse, account for almost half of total returns.The increase in online sales in recent years has become a costly headache for retailers, while delays in goods being returned can also make it difficult for them to manage stock levels

Qantas ordered to pay $170,000 to three workers illegally sacked at start of pandemic

Qantas is facing a hefty compensation bill expected to exceed $100m as it braces for the fallout of its decision to illegally sack almost 1,700 baggage handlers in 2020.Justice Michael Lee ruled on Monday that three test cases should receive $30,000, $40,000 and $100,000. They suffered varying amounts of “non-economic loss”, the court ruled, which refers to hardship and distress caused by the airline.Many workers will also be able to claim economic losses, linked to lost wages.Lee ordered Qantas and the Transport Workers’ Union into mediation using the test-case amounts to inform a total payout, with the parties due to report back early next month