BY ERIC KING
Whenever you see food on sale in supermarkets, a bit of caution will not go amiss before getting too excited. Sometimes, the cheap food can represent quick illness.
This is why it is always advisable to check the date of food items on sale and prioritize your health over the temptation of cheaper prices.
Food sold on the same day as the expiry date is often fine, but once it goes beyond that date, you run a health risk.
Yesterday, Winston Retail Limited was found guilty by magistrates and fined £2,200, thanks to a Leeds City Council environmental health check on the Kasa convenience store and off licence on Dewsbury Road. They must additionally pay court costs of £1,500.
Items that were over six days past their sale dates were discovered on the shelves during the inspection in September last year. They were put on sale for much lower prices than usual to entice customers. This is nothing new, as their a number of shops selling food more than a month old for cheaper prices. It shows the extent of greed by businesses.
The eye of media in the past 24 hours found 4 shops across Essex and London also selling goods for cheaper prices that were over a week beyond that sell by date. We could have reported them to the authorities, but instead our writers warned them to take their goods off their shelves, or in some cases, baskets, with immediate effect or be reported and exposed. Not one of them objected.
The company in Leeds was found guilty of knowingly selling cooked meats and dairy products that had gone beyond their use by date and not having procedures in place to manage food safely under Food Safety and Hygiene (England) Regulations 2013.
RISK
Coun Mark Dobson- the council’s executive member for environmental protection and community safety, said:
“Although we’re not talking about massive quantities of food in this case, the rules are simple and clear.
“Use by dates are provided by producers to ensure people don’t get food poisoning.
“Anything that goes past those dates cannot be sold.
“If a person chooses to eat something that they have already bought which has gone past its use by date that is their choice. However, people should not be put at risk by businesses knowingly selling products that are out of date.
