Sainsbury's Supermarkets today pleaded guilty to 13 separate criminal offences under the Food Labelling Regulations 1996 at Cwmbran Magistrates Court and was fined £45,500.
The case was brought by Torfaen council, after an investigation of food for sale at the Sainsbury's store in Cwmbran revealed food items were being sold up to 15 days past their 'use by' date.
The executive member for housing, planning and public protection, councillor Gwyneira Clark, said: "Consumers expect to buy food that is safe to eat. 'Use by' dates are applied to perishable products that support the growth of bacteria.
"If the 'use by' date is exceeded these bacteria may grow to levels that present a risk to the health of the consumer.
"The work of Torfaen's Public Protection department is vital to safeguard the health of the public and this prosecution sends out a message to all retailers that selling out of date food will not be tolerated."
On 24 June 2009, Torfaen council conducted a routine inspection at the supermarket and found 10 items of food past their 'use by' date. This included five chicken and pork liver pâtés that were each 15 days out of date.
The Cwmbran store and Sainsbury's head office were informed of the findings and a trading standards investigation into the date-code control systems at Sainsbury's was launched. At the same time, Torfaen council also received complaints from two local Torfaen consumers who had found three items of out of date food in the store over a period of 12 days.
Consequently, 13 charges of selling food past its 'use by' date contrary to the Food Labelling Regulations 1986 were laid against the company.
Sainsbury's pleaded guilty to the charges today and were fined £45,500. In addition, Sainsbury's was ordered to pay council costs of £8,000 and a £15 victim surcharge, making a grand total of £53,515.