The pharmacy chain Rite Aid Corp. agreed to a $1.3 million settlement with New York Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo following allegations that numerous Rite Aid stores across the state repeatedly sold over-the-counter drugs, baby formula, milk and eggs after their expiration dates.

Another drugstore chain, CVS, also facing accusations of selling expired products, was sued by Cuomo after his office cited the company’s “unwillingness to properly address the problems found at its New York stores.”

Both companies were included in an undercover investigation by the attorney general’s office earlier this year that focused on the major pharmacy chains operating in the state. As a result of that probe, Cuomo’s office alleged that sales of expired products occurred in more than 122 Rite Aid stores and 148 CVS stores in 41 New York counties, including those in the Lower Hudson Valley.

Both chains continued to sell expired products even after Cuomo disclosed the findings of the probe in June and issued a public health advisory, according to the attorney general’s office. 

“In today’s difficult economic times, consumers should not be spending their hard earned money on expired products that may be harmful to themselves or their children,” Cuomo said in a written statement. 

The lawsuit against CVS charges the company with repeated violations of the law by selling over-the-counter drugs, infant formula, milk and eggs that had expired as far back as 2006. Some of the violations took place as recently as Wednesday when investigators bought expired medicines and baby formula from CVS, officials said.

Mike DeAngelis, director of public relations for CVS, said the company is disappointed by Cuomo’s lawsuit but intends to cooperate with his office in the matter.

CVS has “a specific product removal policy that is communicated to store employees as part of their training in an effort to ensure that we do not offer products for sale once they have gone beyond their expiration date,” DeAngelis said. “Over the last several months we retrained our employees to ensure compliance with that policy and will continue to aggressively communicate the importance of this issue to our employees.”

In its settlement, Rite Aid agreed to pay a civil penalty of $1 million and an additional penalty of up to $300,000 if it violates the agreement during the next three years. Other parts of the settlement include training of Rite Aid workers; weekly company inspections of New York stores; and internal compliance checks for expired products during the next three years, according to the attorney general’s office.

“It has always been our policy to not sell outdated products,” said Ashley Flower, a spokeswoman for Rite Aid. “We took this very seriously. We have reinforced our policies, retrained our associates and put in place a new system of checks in our stores to ensure that merchandise is not sold beyond its expiration date.”