By Cara Sulieman
A SHOPKEEPER has been fined £300 after selling out of date food.
Nadeem Ishaq, owner of Fresh Choice, pled guilty to illegally selling food past its ‘use by’ date at Edinburgh Justice of the Peace Court in December.
Officers from the council’s Environmental Health unit visited the shop in July last year for a routine food standards investigation.
They found a total of nine products in the fridge that were out of date and started legal proceedings against the shopkeeper.
Of the fruit, juices, pasties and other pastry snacks still on show, four were four days past their sell by date and another five were three days past it.
A typical corner shop, Fresh Choice on South Clerk Street in Edinburgh sells both dry and chilled food as well as a small section of household goods.
But the health inspectors found they didn’t have controls in place to make sure no food was sold out of date, leading to a risk to “human health.”
Councillor Robert Aldridge, Environment Leader, is pleased with the work his employees have done and hopes the message will get across to other shopkeepers.
He said: “Food past its ‘use by’ date is not fit for consumption. Anyone caught selling food past its ‘use by’ date could be reported to the Procurator Fiscal.
“I applaud the work of our officers, which helps ensure that food bought in Edinburgh’s shops or restaurants is healthy and safe.
“This case should send a message to all food retailers that they would be breaking the law to sell goods which have passed their ‘use by’ dates.”
Although sometimes ignored by consumers, use by dates are an important indication of when a food is safe to eat.
Once expired, there is a higher chance that microbiological growth will happen on the food, leading to numerous health problems.
On the 10 December 2008 Mr Nadeem Ishaq pled guilty and was fined £300 for offences under the Food Labelling Regulations 1996 and the Food Hygiene (Scotland) Regulations 2006.
