Asda fined £640,000 for selling out of date food – London Business News | London Wallet

Trading Standards Officers found 115 items at Asda which were out of date, some were two weeks out of date.

Asda has been fined £640,000 after Trading Standards Officers found the out of date food at Leckwith and Pentwyn stores in Cardiff, South Wales.

The supermarket chain was slapped with four charges for selling out of date food and the Asda stores were visited on four separate occasions last year.

Five tubs of spicy mayo dip was a week out of date, plus 36 other items when the Leckwith store was visited on 17 January 2024.

On 25 March the Pentwyn store at Cardiff Gate retail park was visited and 25 items were found to be out of date and one month later Trading Standards Officers found a further 48 items, some of which were 12 days out of date.

An Asda spokesman said: “We regret that out-of-date food was found on sale at two of our Cardiff stores last year and accept that our usual high standards were not upheld.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.”

Kerry Nicol, external affairs manager at the Chartered Trading Standards Institute, said: “Supermarkets have a legal and moral responsibility to ensure that food on their shelves is safe and within its use by date.

“Selling food past its use by date not only breaches consumer protection laws but also risks public health and undermines trust.

“Trading Standards teams across the country play a vital role in monitoring compliance and taking action where necessary.

“We urge all retailers to prioritise robust stock management and quality assurance processes to ensure consumers are protected and confidence in the food supply chain is maintained.”