Hong Kong supermarket Wellcome, a subsidiary of Dairy Farm International, has been fined $46,000 (US$5930) for six breaches of food regulations relating to selling expired food and improper labelling.
The retailer, which pleaded guilty to the charges, was also ordered to pay laboratory fees of $4950.
Prosecutors told the Kwun Tong magistrates’ court that Wellcome sold improperly marked, expired food in three stores: Tak Bo Garden in Kowloon Bay, Jade Mansion in Yau Ma Tei and Infinity Eight in Clearwater Bay Rd. The expired food included sausages, luncheon meat and milk, all past their use-by dates.
Health authorities also found ham slices on sale without an expiry date and mouldy fruit and vegetables in the produce department.
Dairy Farm is a serial offender in breaching food regulations in its supermarkets. The prosecutor told the court the retailer had been caught selling expired products 24 times, mouldy food 19 times and improperly labelled products 17 times. For that reason the magistrate imposed a heavy fine reflecting the company’s poor past history and the size of the business.
But its defence lawyers told the court Dairy Farm operates more than 1000 outlets, thus human error was inevitable.