Supermarket makes major change in all UK stores after £500,000 fine: ‘Non-compliance never pays’
Asda has been fined £507,767 after admitting five breaches of the Food Safety Act linked to expired food products found on sale at one of its stores.
The supermarket chain was prosecuted following the discovery of out-of-date items on shelves at its Barnsley branch during 2024.
Inspectors found some products had remained available for purchase well beyond safe consumption dates.
Among the most serious findings were tubs of hummus that had been on sale 16 days after their sell-by date.
The investigation was carried out by Barnsley Council’s trading standards team, which identified multiple instances of expired food being offered to customers.
Pizzas and curries were also among the items found to be past their safe sale dates during inspections.
The court issued its ruling on January 29, ordering Asda to pay the combined total covering fines and associated legal costs.
The retailer pleaded guilty to all five charges brought under food safety legislation.
Pizzas and curries were also among the items found to be past their safe sale dates during inspections
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GETTYThe case followed inspections at the South Yorkshire store where trading standards officers identified products that should have been removed from sale.
The total penalty equates to roughly £100,000 per offence.
Since the breaches were identified, Asda said it has introduced strengthened monitoring systems, staff retraining programmes and increased audit checks at the affected store.
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.”
The company said it has taken steps to prevent similar issues across its wider store network
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ASDACouncillor Wendy Cain, public health spokesperson for Barnsley Council, said: “We’re committed to keeping our communities safe, a responsibility we take very seriously.”
Cllr Cain said: “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.”
Asda said it fell short of the standards their customers rightly expect
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The company said it has taken steps to prevent similar issues across its wider store network.
The spokesperson said: “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.”
The updated date verification process has now been rolled out across Asda stores nationwide following the legal case.
