The offences related to the stores in Leckwith and Pentwyn
11:44, 15 Jul 2025Updated 15:56, 15 Jul 2025
The court heard that Asda took matters of food safety very seriously(Image: WalesOnline/Rob Browne)
Asda has been ordered to pay a total of £657,115 after the supermarket chain pleaded guilty to selling over 100 out of date items across two different stores in Cardiff.
The charges related to the Asda stores in Leckwith Road, Canton, and Pentwyn and included high-risk items like meat and dairy. Lee Reynolds, representing Cardiff Council, told Cardiff Magistrates Court that on January 17, 2024, and May 8, 2024, out of date food items were found at the Asda in Leckwith Road, Canton.
On the initial visit, the oldest item was seven days past its best before date. On the second visit in May, six items were past their use by dates.
It was after the first visit to the Leckwith store that Cardiff Council received a complaint from a member of the public regarding out of date food in the Pentwyn store.
On March 25 and April 24, out of date food items were found in the Asda in Pontprennau, Pentwyn. In the initial visit they found 25 out of date food items including 11 items which were 15 days past their best before dates.
Following a further complaint from a member of the public, on the subsequent visit in April, 48 out of date food items were found, including one item which was 12 days out of date.
Over the four month period, 115 out of date food items were found. Never miss a Cardiff story by signing up to our daily newsletter here.
Ian McDonald, representing Asda, told the court the supermarket chain took matters of food safety “very seriously”.
He explained that since these instances the company had implemented a new system for monitoring out of date food.
He told the court that the consultation process cost £1million and the initial training of 105,000 members of staff cost over £600,000 and there had been no issues since the new system was brought in.
Mr McDonald also explained that since the initial concerns were raised there had been briefings of colleagues, HR activity, and visits from senior members of management.
Judge Charlotte Murphy accepted that Asda had systems in places but said they “were not sufficient”.
She added: “The offences were not minor or part of an isolated incident as it was over five months and in two stores.”
She did, however, concede that there was a “low risk of adverse effect to the general public”.
Judge Murphy imposed a fine of £160,000 for each offence which was a breach of the General Food Regulations 2004, coming to £640,000. The sum, with court charges, brought the total to £657,115 and Asda was ordered to pay the sum within 28 days.
Asda pleaded guilty to the charges at the first opportunity, on May 21, 2025.
Use-by dates are legally required on highly perishable food products by the manufacturers to ensure that items are safe. Selling food that is past this date is a breach of food safety regulations.
Cllr Norma Mackie, council 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.”
An Asda spokesperson said: “We regret that out-of-date food was found on sale at two of our Cardiff stores last year and accept that our usual high standards were not upheld.
“Since then, we have introduced a new date code checking process across all our stores, whereby every short-life product is checked daily so that customers can always buy the freshest products.”
In April this year, Asda was fined £410,000 after two of its Cornwall stores were found to be selling out of date food.
In October last year, the supermarket was fined £250,000 for selling food past its use by date, including some by six months, in stores in Derby. The supermarket chain’s annual total revenue, excluding fuel, was £21.7billion in the 2024 financial year.