A Welsh supermarket company has been ordered to pay almost £30,000 for breaching food safety standards at two of its Swansea stores.
Inspectors found out-of-date food items for sale at CK's Supermarket Ltd's store in Cockett, while food deemed to be unsafe was found on the shelves at its Cwmbwrla store.
Black pudding, cheese, spicy chicken tikka bites and salad were among the out-of-date items on sale in the Cockett Road shop in November 2019 - with one five days past its use by date.
When inspectors visited the company's store in Pentregethin Road on November 5 this year, beef burgers and turkey breast were just some of the items that were deemed unsafe.
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Swansea Council lawyer Craig Davies told Swansea Magistrates Court that between the two visits, that were a year apart, council inspectors found 11 products that were not suitable to be sold.
Mr Davies said: "The company does have four previous convictions spanning from 2011 to 2015, but no offences in the last five years.
"These convictions are similar and do relate to the sale of food which is out-of-date."
During the visit to the Cockett Road store on November 4, 2019, out-of-date food including President Brie, Fridge Raiders spicy tikka chicken bites, Florette Superfood Mix, Finest black pudding, Discover the Choice shepherd's pie, a chicken and mushroom slice and Discover the Choice sour cream and chive dip was found.
The court heard that the two packs of black pudding were five days out of date, while the shepherd's pie was four days out of date.
A year later on November 5, 2020, a visit was paid to the Pentregethin store where inspectors found Discover the Choice turkey breast, lamb's liver, American seasoned beef burgers and Attack a Snack chicken 'n' cheese packs that were unsafe.
Craig Jones, mitigating, told the court that there was a stock rotation system in place at the stores and that members of staff had received food safety training.
He said: "The manager at the store in Cockett underwent a period of retraining following the incident and has been removed as manager and re-deployed to a role that ensures he does not have supervisory responsibilities.
"At the Cwmbwrla store, the supervisor has attended an investigation meeting, as has the store manager.
"There have been real measures taken in respect of members of staff present."
District judge Neil Thomas said that while he was "satisfied" the company had taken action, he acknowledged that it was not its first time in court for similar incidents.
He said: "It seems to me that there must be more than a human error for the company to be in this position again."
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One of the company's directors, Alun Littlejohns entered guilty pleas to both charges on behalf of the company.
The company was fined a total of £12,000 and ordered to pay £2,210 in costs for the charges relating to the Cockett Road store.
It was also fined a total of £12,000 and ordered to pay £2,210 in costs with a £190 surcharge for the charges relating to the Pentregethin Road store.
