CK Foodstores caught selling meat 13 days past its use-by date

CK Foodstores are a supermarket chain in south and west Wales

A supermarket chain has been caught selling meat up to 13 days past its use-by date.

S4C's Y Byd ar Bedwar programme found almost 50 items being sold or displayed out of date at number of CK Foodstores.

It is an offence for a business to sell any product past its use-by date, and consuming gone off meat can lead to illness.

CK Foodstores said it will "monitor and improve on its policies".

The supermarket chain has more than 30 stores across south and west Wales.

It has a partnership with the brand Nisa Local, which is why stores sometimes have the Nisa logo displayed, but CK Foodstores owns and operates the stores independently.

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The investigation focused solely on CK Foodstores and there is no suggestion that Nisa Local has been selling out-of-date food.

As part of the investigation which spanned almost a year, nearly half of 24 stores visited were selling products past their use-by date.

The investigation found almost 50 items being sold or displayed past the use-by date

Examples included a piece of gammon 13 days out of date at a CK's store in Penclawdd, Swansea, and chicken drumsticks two days out-of-date at the St Clears store in Carmarthenshire.

The team also bought a bag of gammon misshapes at the Narberth store in Pembrokeshire, which were sold 10 days out-of-date.

Meat past its use-by date was also found at stores in Birchgrove, Brynhyfryd, Burry Port, Cimla, Llandysul, St David's, and Waunarlwydd.

In 2020 CK Foodstores was ordered to pay almost £30,000 for selling out-of-date food and displaying food deemed to be unsafe in two of its Swansea stores.

Nathan Barnhouse, director of the Food Standards Agency (FSA) told the programme: "A use-by date is about safety. It may smell and look OK, but you won't necessarily see the bacteria that could potentially make you ill.

"That could lead to hospitalisation if you're elderly, young, or have an underlying health condition. And just because you may have eaten food past its use-by date in the past and been OK, you may not be so lucky in the future.

The FSA said selling meat out of date is an offence

"It is an offence to sell something past its use-by date, and shops shouldn't be doing this."

CK Foodstores said to the programme in a statement: "CK's values all of its customers and the communities in which it operates.

"In recognition of its commitment to its customers, CK will continue to monitor and improve on its policies and procedures to ensure that its customers continue to receive quality items at reasonable prices."

CK's did not respond to the allegations of selling products past the use-by date.