A SUPERMARKET faces a hefty fine after leaving items on the shelf beyond use-by dates.

Food standards inspectors found 71 food items beyond the dates at the Waitrose store in Haywards Heath.

They had gone to inspect fireworks in 2017 when they were alerted to the items.

So West Sussex County Council’s trading standards launched an investigation.

They found that items including classic fish pies, seasonal scotch eggs with chorizo and parsley, smoked haddock and Ginsters Mexican chilli beef slices, still for sale.

The items were one day past their use-by dates.

At Brighton Magistrates’ Court the company, which boasts a turnover of more than £6.5 billion per year admitted breaching food safety and hygiene regulations.

Waitrose could now face a fine of up to £100,000 for breaching the rules.

Lawyers for the company said that the supermarket chain’s own checking system was not at fault.

Instead it was down to staff at the store itself failing to ensure the right procedures were followed.

Store documents revealed a staff member had made checks a week earlier, but these were not then reviewed by a manager.

Brett Coleborn, prosecuting, said the inspection in October 2017 had revealed 71 food items on the shelves beyond use-by dates.

In court, district judge Tessa Szagun asked where the mistake had been made.

She said: “No doubt Waitrose want to ensure confidence in their products. The concern the public has is how these checks have been missed.”

Jonathan Goulding, defending, said no customers had been harmed and there was little likelihood of any harm being caused.

Tests by experts had revealed the public faced no public health risks if they had purchased and eaten the items.

He said: “Mistakes do happen, we are talking about human beings in all of this. Waitrose is horrified by this, and it is out of character for the business.

“The company has a perfectly satisfactory system, and mistakes are corrected and put right.”

He said the store manager at the time had been suspended, but resigned before an internal disciplinary hearing.

Meanwhile the regional manager at the time also faced an internal disciplinary hearing, but had moved to a new role outside the business before the hearing took place.

Judge Szagun said she will give a judgment when she has had time to consider all the documents and evidence in the case.

Both defence and prosecution agreed the starting point would be a fine of £35,000, possibly rising up to £100,000, due to the sentencing guidelines.

The judge will announce her decision at a hearing on May 10.

  • Due to an error in official court documents, a previous version of this story stated that the offences took place at Waitrose in Horsham. It was in fact the branch in Haywards Heath. The Argus is happy to clarify this point.