Dunedin Woolworths can continue to exist after the rat infestation scandal

Woolworths could continue to be exposed to further measures after a rat infestation in the past year has closed its South Dunedin supermarket, according to New Zealand Food Safety.

The Woolworths Dunedin South Store was closed for almost three weeks in February last year to eliminate the pests after the problem was first discovered at the end of 2023.

During the closure, more than 20 rats were captured and the detection of rats that nested within the supermarket before the business was opened to the public on February 28th.

The deputy general director of New Zealand Food Safety, Vincent Arbuckle, said that the investigation was largely completed, including determining the causes and remedial measures.

“Further enforcement measures must be taken into account in a small number of cases, and to do this, further information from the company involved is sought and checked. This can include a significant number of documents and statements,” he said.

“This is the case for the Woolworths Dunedin South Store.”

For legal reasons, the NZ food safety could neither provide further details nor a schedule, but it was convinced that there was no ongoing problems in Dunedin South Store, said Arbuckle.

It examined 800 to 900 grocery complaints per year, with most of them led to changes before the examination was completed.

Woolworth's New Zealand would not comment on the respective business, but instead said that every business had a comprehensive pest control program and worked with a pension.

“Pests are something that every grocery store has to manage and we take this responsibility seriously,” said a spokesman.

“When a customer sees what a pest he thinks in our shops, we ask you to inform our business team immediately so that he can investigate.”

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