A SHOPKEEPER has been fined £750 for selling out of date sausages. Environmental health officers from Rugby Borough Council visited S Food and Wine, in Park Road, on November 14 after receiving a complaint from a member of the public.
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During the inspection, officers found five packets of sausages and six packets of Frankfurters still on sale, despite being past their ‘use by’ dates.
One of the packets of sausages had a use by date of October 13.
At Nuneaton Magistrates Court on Monday, Ponnuthurai Satkunarajah, the owner of the shop, pleaded guilty to breaching food labelling regulations by selling food past its use by date.
The court heard the borough council had received a number of previous complaints about Mr Satkunarajah’s shop, and he had been warned about selling out of date food.
In mitigation, Mr Satkunarajah apologised to the court and said he had intended to donate the out of date food to charity – a practice he had now stopped.
Magistrates fined Mr Satkunarajah £750 and ordered him to pay £125 costs and a £75 victim surcharge.
Speaking after the case, Cllr Dr Mark Williams, Rugby Borough Council portfolio holder for sustainable environment, said: “This prosecution sends a clear message to shopkeepers about the importance of regular stock checks to make sure out of date food products are not for sale.
“The ‘use by’ date is there for a reason, and eating out of date products carries the risk of food poisoning.
“Shopkeepers who break the law can expect a visit from our environmental health officers.”
