Asda has been hit with a £500,000 fine for repeatedly selling out-of-date food in one of its UK supermarkets.
The retailer pleaded guilty to five offences under the Food Safety Act at Barnsley Magistrates Court and was ordered to pay £507,767 in fines and costs on January 29.
Some of the food being displayed at its Old Mill Lane store in Barnsley was more than two weeks past its expiry date, according to a 2024 probe.
Pizzas, curries and tubs of hummus were among the items found by the local council’s Trading Standards, which it warned “could have put the public’s health at risk”.
The prosecution was brought by Barnsley Council's Trading Standards after a series of visits found that, despite several warnings, the store was continuing to display out-of-date food items for sale.
All out-of-date food products found during the visits were seized by the Trading Standards team, who informed the store that follow-up visits would take place to ensure compliance.
A spokesperson for Barnsley Trading Standards said: “While improvements have been made since these offences, including a new checking system, retraining and increased auditing in the store, the sizeable £100,000 fine per offence sends a clear message that non-compliance never pays.”
Cllr Wendy Cain, Barnsley Council’s public health spokesperson, said: “We’re committed to keeping our communities safe, a responsibility we take very seriously.
“We expect businesses of all sizes to only sell safe food, and this significant result sends a clear message that we will always put people’s health and safety first, taking action where businesses fail to comply with legislation or respond to warnings.”
An Asda spokesperson said: “We are disappointed that some out-of-date products were found on sale at our Barnsley store in 2024.
“This fell short of the standards our customers rightly expect and that we hold ourselves to.
“In the time since these products were found, we have introduced a new date code checking process in every Asda store to ensure the freshest products are always available for customers to buy.”
