A GWENT supermarket was fined more than £45,000 yesterday for selling food that was up to 15 days past its use by date.

Cwmbran magistrates court fined Sainsbury's £45,500 after the supermarket giant pleaded guilty to 13 charges of selling out of date food in its Cwmbran store.

Between June 24 2009 and October 21 2009, the supermarket on Llywelyn Road was found to be selling lamb burgers one day past their use by date, egg noodles two days out of date, and chicken liver pate which was on sale 15 days after its use by date.

In a prosecution brought by Torfaen county borough council, the court heard that on June 24 2009 a trading standards officer visited Cwmbran Sainsbury's as part of a routine investigation.

He found five packets of lamb burgers with a use by date of June 23, and five packets of chicken liver pate with a use by date of June 9.

Lee Reynolds, prosecuting, said when the officer took the items to the check out he was able to buy them without question.

Then in October 2009, Mr Reynolds said trading standards received a complaint from a member of the public who had gone into the store on October 12 and found it selling egg noodles with a use by date of October 10.

When the same customer returned the store again on October 21, she found it was still selling egg noodles two days past their use by date.

Mr Reynolds said Sainsbury’s system for checking use by dates was complicated, and that staff training for the system was not carried out on a regular basis.

Representing Sainsbury’s, Zoe Perry said the items found by trading standards represented only a very small proportion of the huge number of food products checked each day in the Cwmbran store and across the UK.

Ms Perry added that the member of staff responsible for checking dates on the products found by trading standards had been demoted and all staff in the fresh food department were made to retrain.

Chairman of the bench Gary Shide fined Sainsburys £3,500 for each of the 13 charges, ordered the company to pay £8,000 in costs and a £15 victim surcharge.

Bacteria a health risk - councillor

Torfaen’s executive member for housing, planning and public protection Councillor Gwyneira Clark said after the hearing: “Consumers expect to buy food that is safe to eat. ‘Use by’ dates are applied to perishable products that support the growth of bacteria. If the ‘use by’ date is exceeded these bacteria may grow to levels that present a risk to the health of the consumer.”