Supermarket giant Woolworths will be ceasing the sale of the pesticide Yates Confidor.
This follows the news of Bunnings and Mitre 10 also removing the pesticide from their stores.
“We can confirm that we will cease the sale of Confidor in Woolworths supermarkets and we are currently working with the supplier around this decision. We expect the product will no longer be on our shelves from the end of June this year,” said Woolworths spokesperson to Inside FMCG.
The call for the product’s removal reportedly comes after a SumOfUs petition urging Australian retailers to pull the product Yates Confidor accumulated more than 29,000 signatures in a matter of days.
SumOfUs said in a statement the canned product belongs to a class of pesticides known as neonicotinoids. This pesticide category has been identified as a key culprit behind declines in global bee populations and has come under bans in France and the EU.
Studies have shown the active ingredient in the pesticide affects bees’ navigation and weakens their immune systems—making them more vulnerable to parasitic infections, which have torn through bee populations in Europe and North America.
Globally, SumOfUs has campaigned extensively to protect bees and ban neonic pesticides. The group successfully pushed Lowes and Home Depot — the largest hardware retailers in North America — to pull neonics off their shelves, and helped secure bans on neonics in France and the EU.
