This follows two inspections of an Asda store in Huyton, Merseyside last year by Knowsley’s Council Environmental Health team.
Officers investigating found 59 items of food on sale past their expiration dates, despite a previous warning issued to the company around the need to improve checks of expiration dates in store.
Items on sale past their use-by included 26 packets of ham, 10 packets of cheesecake, 8 cartons of crème fraiche, 4 packets of smoky BBQ tasty bites, 4 packets of deliciously vegan no chorizo slices, 2 packets of smoked salmon, 2 chicken and bacon bakes, 1 toffee sundae, 1 packet of corned beef and 1 packet of ‘Nduja & Regato Cheese Pinwheels. The packet of pinwheels were on sale 18 days after the use-by had expired.
Asda Stores Ltd appeared before Liverpool and Knowsley Magistrates’ Court on 25 September 2025 and pleaded guilty to six charges of breaching the Food Safety and Hygiene (England) Regulations 2013 by placing unsafe food on the market.
The company was fined £130,000 and ordered to pay £11,000 in costs to the Council.
The prosecution brought by Knowsley Council follows Asda receiving heavy fines after recent prosecutions brought by Derby City Council and Cornwall Council for selling food that had expired use by dates.
Cllr Shelley Powell, cabinet member for communities and neighbourhoods, said: “It’s really important that retailers adhere to the law and ensure that consumers aren’t put at any risk due to items being available to buy when the use by date has already expired.
“We will continue to routinely check food businesses to ensure there are no food breaches and take robust action against anyone who is not complying with the law.”
Asda told Food Manufacture that at the time of the investigation a different date code checking process was in use. A new updated process has since been introduced (rolled out November 2024), which involves daily manual checks on all short-life products and twice-weekly checks on every-long life product.
An Asda spokesperson commented: “We are disappointed that some out out-of-date products were found on sale at our Huyton store last year. This fell short of the standards our customers rightly expect and that we hold ourselves to.
“Since then, 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.”
