A SHOPKEEPER has been fined £1,000 for stocking out-of-date yoghurts.

Businessman Mohammed Razaq was fined when the £1 pound pack of yoghurts were found on the shelves of his shop, 12 days past their labelled use-by date.

At Gosforth Magistrates' Court yesterday, Razaq, a director of Kans and Kandy, Newcastle, said it was an innocent mistake and labelled the fine as excessive.

Razaq said: "I think anyone who was in court would think the fine was over the top.

"The magistrates said it was because it was yoghurt that it was viewed seriously, but I think £1,000 is excessive.

"This heavy-handed approach is not good for businesses and traders in the North-East.

"Mistakes happen, but it was not done on purpose.

"Do you think I would risk a £1,000 fine for some yoghurts worth a pound?

"Of course not, I would have thrown them out if I had known."

Razaq admitted breaching food labelling regulations and as well as the fine he was ordered to pay £125 costs.

The prosecution said a food safety technician for Newcastle City Council had bought a sample of yoghurt from his shop on Feburary 17 which had a use-by date of February 5.

Razaq said he had misunderstood the rules governing "use by" and "sell by" dates.

He said: "The confusion arose because my interpretation was that anything that was past its best before date was allowed to be sold as long as it was reduced and labelled.

"But I now know that applies to sell-by dates, not use-by dates.

"It was just a misunderstanding. Since then we have trained all staff to check the chilled cabinets daily and we will make sure it doesn't happen again."