A retailer from Spalding, Lincolnshire, has been fined more than £3,000 for selling out-of-date food following a prosecution by Lincolnshire Trading Standards.

Lincolnshire Trading Standards found “hundreds” of items for sale past their use by dates at the Kubus supermarket in Spalding.

Some out-of-date chilled food had been removed from the store’s refrigerator and was being sold at a reduced price from baskets on the shop floor.

Under the Food Labelling Regulations, it is a criminal offence to sell, or have on your premises exposed for sale, any product that has gone beyond its use by date.

Owner, Jasem Amed Ali was found guilty of four offences of selling food, including fresh yogurts and milkshakes, past its use by date, as well as five offences of selling non-English labelled food.

Andy Wright, principal Trading Standards officer at Lincolnshire County Council, said it was “one of the worst cases of this type” that he had come across.

“Generally foods marked with a use by date are refrigerated and pose an imminent risk to health if consumed after that date. The risk to health was obvious and the penalty imposed by the court sends out a clear message that this is unacceptable,” he added.