Asda Stores Ltd has been ordered to pay over £655,000 after pleading guilty to selling food past its use-by-date at two of its Cardiff branches.
The case followed customer complaints, prompting officers from the Shared Regulatory Services (SRS) to carry out inspections at two Asda supermarkets in Cardiff on six separate occasions between January and June 2024.
During these visits, more than 100 food items were discovered to be past their use-by-date and were subsequently removed from the shelves. The affected stores were located at Capital Retail Park, on Leckwith Road, and the Pentwyn Superstore, at Dering Road, Pontprennau.
Some of the food products were found to be up to seven days past their use-by-date, with many being sold as ready-to-eat items. Several of these products were clearly marketed towards children, raising concerns about food safety and consumer protection.
At a previous hearing on 21st May 2025, Asda Stores Ltd pleaded guilty to four charges of selling unsafe food. The offences included the sale of high-risk items such as meat and dairy products, which pose a significant health risk when consumed beyond their use-by dates.
Use-by dates are legally required on highly perishable food products by the manufacturers to ensure that customers are purchasing and consuming food that is safe. Selling food that is past this date is a breach of food safety regulations and can lead to serious health consequences.
Cllr Norma Mackie, Cabinet Member with responsibility for Shared Regulatory Services at Cardiff Council welcomed the fine imposed by the court, saying: “Consumers should be confident that the food on sale at stores is safe to eat. It is essential that robust systems are in place to prevent the sale of food past its use-by-date. In this case, Asda fell significantly short of the required standards expected. The systems that they had in place were clearly inadequate and we hope that Asda has now taken the necessary steps to rectify these failings to ensure that such incidents do not occur again.”
District Judge Charlotte Murphy referred to the seriousness of the offences, the duration of time that the offending took place, the number of food items that were past their use-by date, the size, scale and turnover of the organisation, and the fact that the efforts made by the company to address the offending were ineffective.
Asda Stores Limited was fined £640,000, ordered to pay £15,115 in prosecution costs and a Victim Surcharge of £2,000. The four offences were in breach of Regulation 4 9 (b) of the General Food Regulations 2004, relating to the sale of unsafe food.
