Latest News - Prosecutions

Asda Stores Ltd has been fined £500,000 for repeatedly displaying out-of-date food items for sale at their Old Mill Lane store, potentially putting local people’s health at risk.

The company pleaded guilty to five offences under the Food Safety Act at Barnsley Magistrates Court on 29 January, being ordered to pay £507,767.77 in fines and costs.

In June 2024, Barnsley Trading Standards team found that the store was continuing to sell food items past their use-by date, failing to respond to warnings from inspections earlier in the year.

Officers found three non-compliant chilled food products for sale during this follow-up visit, consisting of nine individual items which were collectively 91 days past their use-by date.

During an earlier visit in March 2024, which led to a Food Standards Inspection, officers found 32 out-of-date food items for sale, spanning eleven different chilled products and totalling 581 days past their use-by date.

All out-of-date food products found during these visits were removed from sale and seized by the Trading Standards team, who informed the store that follow-up visits would take place to ensure compliance with this important food safety issue.

Use-by dates are only applied to food products that have the potential to cause food poisoning, with our teams acting fast to mitigate this risk to some members of our community.

While improvements have been made since these offences, including a new checking system, retraining and increased auditing in the store, the sizable £100,000 fine per offence sends a clear message that non-compliance never pays.

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