Woolworths NZ has been fined $33,000 for a rat infestation at a Dunedin store from October 2023 to February 2024, described in court as a “systemic failure”.
The supermarket chain’s Dunedin South branch, then called Countdown, was closed due to the infestation for nearly three weeks in February 2024.
According to New Zealand Food Safety, 61 rats were reported captured.
Woolworths NZ was charged by New Zealand Food Safety in September last year and pleaded guilty in December.
Judge Robinson told the Dunedin District Court today that Woolworths “exposed the public and its own staff to a risk of illness from pathogens carried by rats across a period of four months”.
"Between October and December 2023, there had been approximately 112 sightings logged and registered.
"The pest contractor visited approximately 21 times... and ultimately raised to daily attendance from January 2024 after a rat had chewed through wires of a forklift."
Judge Robinson told the court: “Staff on the ground in the store thought they had the situation under control, with the consequence that matters weren't escalated as they should have been until the ninth of January [2024]”.
He said the problem should have been escalated sooner.
“There was a systemic failure in ensuring that the appropriate staff were adequately trained or otherwise made aware of that escalation process that, in my view, is a failing at a level above the staff that was directly involved in the response to the initial response to the infestation.”
Woolworths faced a maximum fine of $200,000.
Robinson said Woolworths had cooperated with the investigation and “does have an exemplary food safety record and has taken prompt and effective remedy measures”.
New Zealand Food Safety deputy director-general Vincent Arbuckle said the infestation caused concern among customers and could have made people sick.
“Supermarkets are complex businesses that store and distribute large amounts of food. People rightly expect they have robust processes in place to anticipate and manage associated food safety risk.
"On this occasion, the Dunedin South Countdown store fell well short of those expectations.”
Arbuckle said staff had raised concerns about rats in October 2023, with numbers increasing over the following months, but it was not escalated until January 2024.
During this time, the problem in the store continued to grow and became more difficult to resolve.
“That presented an unacceptable risk to consumers because rodents carry disease and leave waste on surfaces that can make people sick. Our investigation found that, for too long, the store tried to deal with it locally as a maintenance or service issue rather than a food safety issue.”
He said NZ Food Safety was "satisfied" that Woolworths took the right steps to identify and resolve the issue.
“Woolworths has reviewed its pest management control system and made considerable improvements. These include increasing its food safety resourcing and training as well as clarifying of roles and responsibilities within the business so that issues can be effectively escalated.
“This was a unique and extreme case of pest infestation and highlights the importance of this area for all food businesses. Problems caught early and addressed promptly, avoid significant business disruption and reputational risk.
“In this case, the store did not manage the infestation according to its food control plan, resulting in a failure by Woolworths to adhere to its duties under the Food Act. We will always prioritise food safety, including prosecuting food businesses where appropriate.”
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