A company has been fined £10,000 and ordered to pay costs of over £12,000 after it admitted extending the ’best before’ dates of eggs it was selling - potentially jeopardising public health.
Medina Dairy Limited, which is based in Windsor with premises across England and Wales, pleaded guilty to five counts of extending ’best before’ dates at Waltham Forest Magistrates Court on 23 August 2010.
All of the offences occurred in March and April 2009 at the company’s packing centre in London.
The prosecution followed a detailed investigation by Animal Health Egg Marketing Inspectors, Defra’s legal team and Defra’s Investigation Service.
Extending ’best before’ dates on food items is considered a serious offence because food quality deteriorates over time, potentially jeopardising public health. This was reflected in the relatively high fine imposed on Medina Dairy Ltd.
Tony Potter, Animal Health’s Technical Services Manager for Egg Marketing, praised an excellent result.
"This result could not have been achieved without close co-operation between Animal Health Inspectors, Defra lawyers and Defra’s Investigation Service," he said.
"Inspectors visited the premises frequently and took pains to provide detailed advice and guidance to the company’s management. When this advice was ignored the inspectors acted robustly, removing the eggs from the market, gathering detailed evidence and passing this information on to Defra colleagues for them to progress to court.
"We can only hope that this case sends a clear message to others working in this sector of the egg marketing industry as to the importance of complying with the relevant rules and regulations."
Medina Dairy were not Lion registered.
