mould

 

Morrisons has been fined £55,000 for selling a mouldy pork pie.

The retailer’s store in Elvetham Heath, Hampshire, was taken to court by Hart District Council inspectors following a customer complaint in February 2016 about the cold meat pie on its deli counter.

Morrisons pleaded guilty to four offences under the Food Safety and Hygiene Regulations Act 2013 at Basingstoke Magistrates’ Court on 25 May.

The supermarket chain was fined £55,000 in total, and ordered to pay council legal costs of £14,396.22 as well as a £120 victim surcharge.

The fine was reduced from £90,000 due to an early guilty plea.

The council said the customer had found the filling contaminated with mould when his wife was eating the pie.

Environmental health officer Nicola Ramsey visited the store and found a further mouldy pork pie on sale in a refrigerated display cabinet - which was above the legal temperature for the safe storage of high-risk food.

Further breaches of food hygiene legislation were later found, including a food handler wearing dirty gloves, used for loading and unloading lorries as well as waste, while handling open foods.

“It was disappointing that Wm Morrison Supermarket plc did not heed previous warnings regarding temperature control and general hygiene standards, which ultimately resulted in mouldy food being sold to a vulnerable member of the public,” said Ramsey.

“Prosecution is a last resort but was necessary given the severity of the offences.”

A spokeswoman for Morrisons said: “We are sorry about these issues that happened more than 12 months ago at our store in Fleet. Our new management team have made improvements that have restored our Food Hygiene Rating to five, the highest rating available.”