Asda has been fined £410,000 for selling food past their use-by dates in two Cornwall stores, including children’s yoghurts. After numerous complaints were submitted about the sale of out-date food, a county-wide investigation was launched by Cornwall Council’s Trading Standards team.
During an inspection at Asda’s branch in Penryn, officers found 58 items on shelves which were past their use-by date, back in October 2023. Several of these items were aimed at children, which includes yoghurts nearly four weeks out of date. Any food displayed for sale past its use by date is legally deemed to be unsafe. Upon a further inspection the following month, a separate Asda in Hayle was found to be selling a further four items past the use-by date.
On April 23, 2025, Asda Stores Ltd appeared at Plymouth Magistrates’ Court and pleaded guilty to two charges of selling unsafe food, contrary to regulation 19 of the Food Safety and Hygiene (England) Regulations 2013.
The two charges were for 62 food items past their use-by dates that were found on supermarket shelves.
Subsequently, Asda was ordered to pay a fine of £410,000, prosecution costs of £20,582.70 and a victim surcharge of £2,000.
District Judge Jo Matson said that although there were preventative systems in place to stop the sale of unsafe food, they were not adhered to.
The court also heard that, despite both Trading Standards officers and customers raising concern over the dates, Asda did not take sufficient action.
Jane Tomlinson, Trading Standards Group Leader at Cornwall Council, said: “We are committed to ensuring that the food sold to consumers is safe and it is disappointing that on these occasions, we found items for sale which could have presented a danger to the public.
“Consumers should be confident that the food they buy is safe to eat. We hope that the steps Asda Stores Ltd have now put in place will prevent the sale of out-of-date food in future.”
An Asda spokesman told CornwallLive in a statement: “The safety of our customers is always our top priority, and we regret that out-of-date products were found on sale at two of our Cornwall stores during October and November 2023.
“Since these instances, we have implemented a new date code checking process in all stores, ensuring that every short life product is checked daily.”
