Posted on: Friday 8 May 2026
Today, the national supermarket chain WM Morrisons Supermarkets Ltd has been fined over £750,000 after pleading guilty to four food hygiene offences at their Cwmbran store.
At Newport Magistrates’ Court, the supermarket was fined £737,000 (reduced from £1.1 million due to an early guilty plea), ordered to pay the council’s costs of £11,221.38 and a £2,000 victim surcharge.
A routine inspection by council Environment Health Officers in August 2024 found multiple hygiene breaches in the bakery, including poor cleanliness, unclean equipment, inadequate staff supervision, and failures in food safety management. The Bakery was immediately closed for a deep clean.
Officers identified 51 gaps in the store’s food safety management system, which management had been aware of for over a month.
In handing down her sentence, District Judge Toms remarked that, the case was not just about a couple of rogue employees, there were serious and systemic failures throughout all levels of the organisation.
The whole team would have been able to see the state that the Bakery was getting in to.
Even with food hygiene training, there should have been better supervision and thankfully the local authority Environmental Health Officers walked in.
Morrisons have risked the health, wellbeing and safety of loyal customers, potentially even placing lives at risk.
This is one of the biggest supermarkets, it is family run, well trusted and give the impression of caring. They failed to take action.
Daniel Morelli, Head of Public Protection and Environment, said: “This case demonstrates the important work of our officers in carrying out independent checks to ensure the food we buy is safe to eat.
“Their work often goes unseen, but they play a vital role in preventing ill-health through identifying non-compliances and taking action to secure necessary improvements, safeguarding the public, and reducing the cost of illness and burden on the NHS.
“Whilst every effort is made to work with businesses using an informal, educative approach, the council will not hesitate to take formal action where the health and well-being of consumers is placed at risk.”
If you have any concerns about food safety and hygiene standards at a food business in Torfaen, get in touch by phoning the Food and Health Protection Team on 01633 648009 or by emailing: foodandhealthprotection@torfaen.gov.uk