The firm pleaded guilty to four hygiene offences at Newport Magistrates’ Court last week and was fined £737,000 (reduced from £1.1 million due to an early guilty plea), ordered to pay Torfaen County Borough Council’s costs of £11,221.38 and a £2,000 victim surcharge.
The breaches were discovered during a routine inspection carried out by council Environmental Health Officers in August 2024 and related to the bakery area of the store.
During their inspection, officers found that general cleanliness was poor, equipment was unclean, staff supervision was inadequate and that failures had been made in food safety management. As a result of these findings, the bakery was immediately closed for a deep clean.
District Judge Toms remarked that the case was not just about a couple of rogue employees and that there were serious and systemic failures throughout all levels of the organisation.
“The whole team would have been able to see the state that the bakery was getting in to.”
She added: “Even with food hygiene training, there should have been better supervision and thankfully the local authority Environmental Health Officers walked in.
“Morrisons have risked the health, wellbeing and safety of loyal customers, potentially even placing lives at risk. This is one of the biggest supermarkets, it is family run, well trusted and give the impression of caring. They failed to take action.”
In total, officers identified 51 gaps in the store’s food safety management system, which management had been aware of for more than a month.
Daniel Morelli, head of public protection and environment at Torfaen County Borough Council, commented: “This case demonstrates the important work of our officers in carrying out independent checks to ensure the food we buy is safe to eat.
“Their work often goes unseen, but they play a vital role in preventing ill health through identifying non-compliances and taking action to secure necessary improvements, safeguarding the public and reducing the cost of illness and burden on the NHS.”
He continued: “Whilst every effort is made to work with businesses using an informal, educative approach, the council will not hesitate to take formal action where the health and wellbeing of consumers is placed at risk.”
In a statement issued to Food Manufacture’s sister publication, British Baker, Morrisons said that it was very disappointed about the condition of the bakery in 2024 and that it fell far short of the standard customers expect and that the company should provide.
“This was a single local issue which was dealt with immediately by working closely with the council,” a spokesperson commented. “The improvement made has been consistently maintained.”
