Morrisons Fined £750k After Bakery Inspection Uncovers 51 Hygiene Failures
BBC Business reported Thursday that Morrisons has been ordered to pay roughly £750,000 after inspectors uncovered sweeping Morrisons bakery hygiene failures at its Cwmbran store in Wales.
The supermarket chain was fined £737,000 at Newport Magistrates’ Court. A further £11,221 in costs and a £2,000 victim surcharge were also imposed. The fine was reduced from an initial £1.1 million following an early guilty plea.
A Routine Visit That Exposed Systemic Failures
Torfaen Council environmental health officers arrived at the Cwmbran branch in August 2024 for a standard inspection. What they found went well beyond minor oversights.
Officers identified 51 separate breaches of food safety management. These included dirty equipment, poor overall cleanliness, insufficient staff supervision, and breakdowns in food hygiene protocols. Critically, management had reportedly been aware of issues for over a month before the inspection took place.
The bakery was closed on the spot for a thorough deep clean.
Judge Calls Out Structural Problems
Presiding Judge Sophie Toms was unsparing in her assessment. She told the court the case could not be dismissed as the conduct of a handful of bad actors. The failures, she said, were serious and ran through the organisation itself.
She added that the company had put customer health at genuine risk, and may have endangered lives. The language from the bench was notable for its directness toward a major national retailer.
Torfaen Council’s public protection lead, Daniel Morelli, reinforced that message after the ruling. He said the council would not hesitate to pursue formal enforcement action wherever consumer welfare is threatened.
Morrisons’ Response and Background
Morrisons acknowledged the condition of the bakery at the time fell well below what customers should expect. The company described it as a localised issue that was addressed immediately through close cooperation with the council. It said standards have been maintained since the remediation.
The fine arrives at a testing moment for the chain. Morrisons has faced separate reputational pressure in recent weeks following a widely reported row over the sacking of a store manager who intervened to stop a shoplifter, prompting calls for a customer boycott.
Food safety enforcement in UK retail has grown increasingly visible. Local authorities hold significant powers to shut premises and pursue criminal prosecution where systemic failures are found, with fines scaled to reflect company turnover.
For a company of Morrisons’ size, the £750,000 total is a manageable sum financially. The reputational cost, landing alongside other negative headlines, may prove more significant.
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