Midlands store fined for out-of-date meat

- Published: 12 April, 2010

A Midlands store found to be stocking bacon, sausage and ham that were two months out of date has been fined £1,800.

Clarkes Stores, All Saints Road, Wolverhampton, admitted selling food past its sell-by date during a hearing before Wolverhampton magistrates.

The court heard that health inspectors rated the items five out of five on the council scale of causing a risk to the public.

Prosecutor Jacky Bramley said: “Quite simply, these items constituted a danger to the public.”

She added that there were no written procedures for staff to monitor stock and staff were unsure who was responsible for clearing shelves of older items.

In mitigation, solicitor Avi Pawar said: “The company regrets the circumstances that have arisen and now has written procedures to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

“This is a large store, which stocks about 5,000 different product lines, and they will make extra sure there is no stock left on shelves which could be a danger to the public.”

Passing sentence, district judge Graham Wilkinson said: “There was no possible excuse for this.”

The store must also pay £760 costs.

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