Tesco out-of-date food fine 'a warning' to other chains

Birmingham City Council said mould was seen on grapes on sale at a Tesco store in Birmingham

A £7.56m fine handed to Tesco will be used to "warn" other supermarket chains against selling food past its "use by" date, experts said.

Ken Simpson was speaking after a judge accused the chain of playing "Russian Roulette" with customers' safety.

Out-of-date food was found at three Birmingham stores in 2016 and 2017.

Mr Simpson, who runs a food safety consultancy, said the judgement was "a warning shot across bows of other big retailers".

Tesco Stores Ltd admitted 22 breaches of Food Safety and Hygiene Regulations and were handed the penalty at Birmingham Magistrates' Court on Monday.

Mark Croxford, head of environmental health at Birmingham City Council, which brought the prosecution, said it would take action against any retailers found breaching legislation.

Out of date items were found in Tesco stores in 2015, 2016 and 2017

Out-of-date items were found on sale at two Tesco Express stores in the city centre and Bournville, and at a Tesco Metro in Bristol Road South during checks by inspectors.

During the inspections, they found:

• Products including pizza, doughballs, soup, pork belly slices, potato salad, trifle and flavoured milk between one and 17 days out of date at the Bournville store in April 2016

• Scotch eggs, quiche Lorraine, Little Dish children's meals, chicken and veg risotto and pasta bolognaise were among 25 items out-of-date at the Bristol Road South shop in June 2017

• Falafel and houmous wraps, grapes and strawberries, and berry medley pots on display past their 'use by' date at the Carrs Lane store the same month, with grapes having visible mould

In the judgement, District Judge Qureshi said "the industry is undermined as a whole by Tesco's offending".

The chain, he said, "tried to argue food is still consumable after the use by date and it should not be an offence."

The judge was also critical of a scientist, called by Tesco, who "compared the cotton-like mould on grapes to the mould in blue cheese" and found bacteria levels safe to eat - calling the defence "implausible".

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Mr Simpson, who runs food safety consultancy Five Star Food Safety in Bristol, said the high fine was given to "warn other retailers".

Tesco said it took "immediate action" to prevent it from happening again.

"The safety of our customers is always our priority and these incidents are not representative of the high standards of safety and quality we expect in Tesco stores," a spokesman added.

The supermarket giant was given the penalty at Birmingham Magistrates' Court on Monday

"Supermarkets have a duty of care to ensure the food and drink they display for sale are in date and therefore safe to consume - however visits by our officers and the public complaints show this is not always the case," Mr Croxford said.

"The manufacturers put the date on their products to guarantee the food is safe and ignoring this date completely undermines consumer safety."