ONE of Barnsley’s largest supermarkets has been handed a £500,000 fine for selling out-of-date food items to the public - some more than two weeks past expiry dates - the Chronicle can reveal.

A Barnsley Council-led probe at Asda’s Old Mill Lane store which began in June 2024 came to an end last Thursday when the big-name retailer pleaded guilty to five charges all relating to food safety and hygiene laws.

Following a hearing at Barnsley Magistrates’ Court, Asda received a fine of £100,000 for each charge, while the retailer was told to pay court costs of £5,767 and a £2,000 surcharge.

The council told the Chronicle following the prosecution that its Trading Standards team found that the store was continuing to sell food items past their use-by date and failed to respond to warnings from inspections earlier in the year.

Officers found three non-compliant chilled food products for sale during this follow-up visit, consisting of nine individual items which were collectively 91 days past their use-by date.

During an earlier visit in March 2024, which led to a food standards inspection, officers found 32 out-of-date food items for sale, spanning 11 different chilled products and totalling 581 days past their use-by date.

All out-of-date food products found during these visits were removed from sale and seized by the team, who informed the store’s management that follow-up visits would take place to ensure compliance.

Tubs of hummus which were 16 days past their sell-by date were found, as were pizzas and curries, which ‘could have put the public’s health at risk’, according to the council.

The prosecution comes after Asda received heavy fines following recent similar prosecutions brought by Cardiff Council, Knowsley Council, Derby City Council and Cornwall Council, also for selling food that had expired use-by dates.

Although the council confirmed that improvements have been made since the 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’.

Councillor Wendy Cain, cabinet spokesperson for public health and communities, said: “We’re committed to keeping our communities safe, a responsibility we take very seriously.

“Our teams do great work supporting businesses of all sizes to understand their responsibilities and comply with safety standards, including issuing warnings where improvements can be made.

“We expect businesses 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.

“I would like to thank our Trading Standards and legal services teams for all their hard work on this case to help keep potentially harmful products off our shelves.”

According to an Asda spokesperson, a different date code checking process was in use during the time of the offences.

An updated process, introduced in November 2024, now involves daily manual checks on all short-life products and twice-weekly checks on every long-life product.

The spokesperson added: “We are disappointed that some out-of-date products were found on sale at our Barnsley store.

“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.”

The Foods Standards Agency urged shoppers to refresh their knowledge of use-by and best before guidance.

Use-by labels are placed on fresh produce that can deteriorate or become unsafe to eat over short time periods, such as meat, fish and dairy products.

It is an offence for retailers to sell items past their use-by dates, however it is not an offence to sell items past their best-before dates, as the latter refers more to the quality rater than safety of the product, and instead give guidance on a date which an items will stay reasonable.

Other dates that may be marked next to the 'use-by' or 'best before' dates may be the 'display until' dates which are merely there to help shops with stock control and are of no relevance to shoppers.

A spokesperson said: “For foods with a best before date - which concerns food quality - you may choose to use sensory cues to find out if the food is okay to eat.

“For example, you could look for visible mould on bread, taste to see if biscuits/crisps are stale, or sniff/smell some dairy products with a best before date to see if they have soured.

“For food with a use-by date, the ‘sniff test’ is not an appropriate method for testing if food is safe to eat.

“Food can look and smell fine even after the use by date has passed, but the product will not be safe to eat.

“We can’t see or smell the bugs that can cause food poisoning.

“Manufacturers are responsible for deciding whether to apply a use-by date or a best before date on their products.

“This will depend on factors such as how the food is made and how risky it is.

“It is important to understand best before and use-by dates on food labels to keep food safe and to help reduce food waste - food may contain bacteria, and if stored for too long or at the wrong temperature can cause food poisoning.”