Market trader had mouldy cheese
Mouldy cheese and pork pies past their sell by date were found on sale at Newtown Market in mid Wales.
Marley Cwmgors Food Ltd, was fined £6,000 at Llandrindod Wells magistrates court on Wednesday.
Robert Hodges, the director of the company, which is based at Ammanford, admitted five food safety charges, when he appeared at Llandrindod Wels Magistrates Court on Wednesday.
They included two charges of placing food on the market which was unsafe and past its use-by date, giving information which was false or misleading, failing to protect food against contamination and failing to identify suppliers and having systems in place to allow the information to be made available to the authorities.
Prosecuting for Powys County Council, Nigel Vaughan said county council officers attended at the company’s stall in Newtown on August 1 and found items past the use-by date. He said the pork pies, with a sell by date of July 27, 2017, could have caused diseases such as listeria, salmonella and ecoli.
Officers also found a number of cheeses including Camembert and Gorgonzola, with use by dates of April, May, June and July.
Vacuum packed hard cheeses were stored in a mouldy condition with other foods which were saleable, with no separation between them, leading to a risk of contamination.
He said Mr Hodges was asked for information and it was found to be false or misleading. He said the misinformation potentially could have hindered the investigation.
Mr Del Cudd for the company said the business was started by Mr Hodges senior 30 years before and it had operated with few difficulties until recently.
But he said Mr Hodges senior now has a diminished role with the company run by Robert Hodges, 28.
Mr Hodges was operating seven days a week from eight markets, starting at 4am and working until 7pm.
“The business went through a difficult financial period in 2016/2017 and to make ends meet they decided to purchase from their reputable suppliers, goods with a use by date of no less than eight days, safe in the knowledge, they could sell the items quickly.
“Each morning, Mr Hodges would personally go through the products he intended to sell at that market and he would take out items past the use-by date. On the day before August 1, Mr Hodges injured his knee and he was told to stay off work.
"Someone was employed to help sift through the products but it was not done, so Mr Hodges put the products on the stall with the intention of sorting them out there. He went through the cheeses but he had not sorted out the pork pies before the council arrived. He also had a black bag of cheeses to be disposed of, in his van. He had had no customers."
He said the business had not been trading since April 2018
Magistrates fined him £6,000 and ordered him to pay £2,508.76 costs and a £170 surcharge.
