Asda supermarket in Derby fined £250,000 for displaying out-of-date food

In a David-and-Goliath-style battle, Derby City Council took on the supermarket giant after it failed to act on two previous warnings from Trading Standards officers

A Derby Asda has been slapped with a quarter-of-a-million-pound fine for displaying food beyond its use-by date - including some products aimed at kids. It comes after Derby City Council's Trading Standards team carried out an inspection at the Sinfin Superstore in Arleston Lane.

During the inspection on July 15, 2021 officers found 18 food items past their use-by date on shelves following two previous warnings. Use-by dates are applied to highly perishable food items by the manufacturer and are crucial to ensuring customers are buying and consuming safe items.

According to the Food Standards Agency, these dates are the most important to remember for food products. Shoppers are advised never to eat food beyond the use-by date, even if it looks and smells OK.

READ MORE: Full list of foods that got Asda fined £250k - some 200 days out of date

The case was heard at Southern Derbyshire Magistrates' Court where, on Wednesday, October 16, District Judge Jonathan Taaffe found Asda Stores Ltd guilty of 11 offences. These related to having unsafe food on offer for sale contrary to regulation 19 of the Food Safety and Hygiene (England) Regulations 2013.

Asda Stores Ltd was then handed a fine of £250,000 and ordered to pay costs of £74,117.69 and a victim surcharge of £190. District Judge Taaffe determined that Asda Stores Ltd did not provide a satisfactory defence, but instead failed to prove that they had implemented their system properly and failed to show that they had made improvements following the warnings received from the Trading Standards team.

Councillor Shiraz Khan, cabinet member for housing and regulatory services, said: "A fine of this scale reflects the seriousness of the situation and the risk it posed to the people of Derby. We are lucky that we have a Trading Standards team who are committed to keeping our city safe, and I am incredibly proud of the work that they continue to do.

"This case serves as a reminder that we are prepared to take whatever action necessary against businesses that break the rules, no matter how big or small."

The investigation was led by Victoria Rose, senior Trading Standards officer, who said: "Customers should be able to rely on stores such as Asda to supply food that is safe to eat. It’s my role to help protect the public when this is not the case, especially when some of these foods were aimed at children and found to be on the shelves six months past their use-by date."

Donna Dowse, Trading Standards service manager, added: "This was not an easy case to bring before the courts, and as a service we faced many barriers put before us due to the nature of Primary Authority Partnerships when trying to take enforcement action.

"The Primary Authority blocked our enforcement action in this case. As such, Victoria Rose had to take the matter first to the Office for Product Safety and Standards and then to the Secretary of State before we could look at a prosecution. If it wasn’t for this commitment to keeping the public safe, then Asda would not have been held accountable for their failings as they have been today."

A Primary Authority Partnership is an agreement in law between a business and a local authority. If the local authority provides that business with “assured” advice, then the business can rely on that advice when being investigated by other local authorities, and the Primary Authority can block enforcement action being taken in respect of that advice.

An Asda spokesperson: “We regret that a small number of out-of-date products were found on sale at Asda Sinfin in July 2021, and that the high safety and quality standards that we set across all stores were not met on this occasion. Our top priority for every Asda store is to always have the freshest products available on our shelves.”