Asda has been fined more than half a million pounds for selling dozens of out-of-date items at two of its stores in Wales.
Trading Standards officers found 115 items, including some that were more than two weeks out of date, at its Leckwith and Pentwyn stores in Cardiff.
Asda admitted the breaches were “clearly unacceptable” but claimed a new system for checking items was now in place.
Judge Charlotte Murphy imposed a fine of £640,000 plus costs.
Food safety breaches
Asda faced four charges relating to the sale of dozens of out-of-date food items after food safety officers visited the Asda stores in Leckwith and Pentwyn on four occasions in 2024.
The court was told a visit to the Leckwith store on 17 January 2024 found 36 out-of-date items, including five tubs of spicy mayo dip seven days out of date.
A visit to the Cardiff Gate store on 25 March 2024 found 25 items out of date, and another visit to the store on 24 April 2024 found 48 items out of date, including some items 12 days out of date.
A second probe at the Leckwith store on 8 May 2024 found another six out-of-date items.
Cardiff magistrates court heard the first visit to the Leckwith store was a “routine hygiene inspection” but the Trading Standards officer had visited the Pentwyn store after a complaint from a member of the public.
Defending Asda, barrister Iain MacDonald said it was a “failure” and ”plainly wasn’t acceptable” that the items were out of date, and it was “contrary to Asda’s commitment to provide safe food for its customers”.
MacDonald said it had 75 stores in Wales and that there had been no food standard breaches in its Welsh stores for the past 18 years.
He outlined details of a new system that had been implemented in recent months to address the issue, explaining how food with a short date should now be checked daily and longer-life food twice a week.
Imposing the large fine, judge Murphy said: “Asda had systems in place but those systems were not sufficiently adhered to or implemented.”
She said the breaches were “not minor” but she accepted there was a “low risk of an adverse affect on the general public”.
A fine of £640,000 was given and the company was also ordered to pay £15,115 in costs and a £2,000 surcharge.
Asda’s previous fine
It’s the second time in the space of a few months Asda has been fined hundreds of thousands of pounds for selling out-of-date food.
In April it was fined over £400,000 after two of its Cornwall stores were investigated by Cornwall Council’s Trading Standards team.
It found Asda had 58 expired products on shelves at its Penryn branch on 30 October 2023.
A follow-up inspection on 1 November 2023 uncovered an additional four products, displayed at its Hayle store.
It is understood the type of products varied but included “ready-to-eat” items such as children’s yoghurts that were almost four weeks past their expiration date.
The supermarket chain admitted to two offences related to offering unsafe food for sale, based on 62 products that were past their use by date.
Asda pointed out the prosecution related to food safety breaches that took place last year, when a different date code checking process was in use.
It said an updated process, brought in from November onwards, involved daily manual checks on all short-life products and twice-weekly checks on every long-life product.
An Asda spokesman said: “We regret that out-of-date food was found on sale at two of our Cardiff stores last year and accept our usual high standards were not upheld.
“Since then, we have introduced a new date code checking process across all our stores, whereby every short-life product is checked daily so that customers can always buy the freshest products.”
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