Market trader tried to sell mouldy cheese and out-of-date pork pies
Mouldy cheese and pork pies past their sell by date were found on sale at Newtown Market, a court was told.
Marley Cwmgors Food Ltd, was fined £6,000 at Llandrindod Wells Magistrates Court.
Robert Hodges, aged 28, a director of the company, which is based at Ammanford, admitted five food safety charges, when he appeared before magistrates.
They included two charges of placing food on the market that was unsafe and past its use-by date, giving information that 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 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 problems through listeria, salmonella or ecoli.
Officers also found a number of cheeses including camembert and gorgonzola, with use by dates of April, May, June and July.
Contamination
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, representing the company, said: “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 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.
