Overview

• Asda Stores Ltd pleaded guilty to six breaches of food safety regulations at Liverpool and Knowsley Magistrates’ Court and was ordered to pay £130,000 plus about £11,000 in costs.
• Council inspections in February and March 2024 found 59 items on sale past their use-by dates, including ham, cheesecake, crème fraîche and smoked salmon.
• One packet of ’Nduja & Regato Cheese Pinwheels was identified as 18 days beyond its use-by date.
• Knowsley Council said the failures reflected a fundamental fault in Asda’s date-coding and removal controls.
• Asda says it has introduced a new date-code checking process in every store, invested £1.3m in systems and staff retraining, and taken disciplinary action at the Huyton branch; similar prosecutions have recently resulted in fines in Derby, Cornwall and Cardiff.