The supermarket chain Booths has been fined £27,500 after it pleaded guilty to breaching food safety regulations.
The charges relate to a Booths store in Lytham, where food safety inspectors found products for sale that were past their sell-by date and an ox tongue that contained listeria bacteria. Commenting on the visit to the Lytham store, Fylde Council’s cabinet member for environment and partnerships, Councillor Tommy Threlfall said:
“The council’s investigation of Booths revealed some quite shocking examples of ignorance of food safety. The ox tongue turned out to be tip of the iceberg as we discovered that fresh mussels and oysters were being managed beyond the shelf-life policy.”
The investigation was launched after a customer at the store was infected with listeria, but this was later found to have been caused by one of Booths’ suppliers.
Booths has been fined £27,500 for the breaches, and it has confirmed that steps are being taken to address the issues raised. This may mean checking the source of food products more carefully, reviewing the chain’s food safety management system or investing in better food hygiene training for staff members.
