The Ministry for Primary Industries confirmed yesterday its investigation into last year’s infestation was ongoing, and "New Zealand Food Safety is considering enforcement action, subject to further information from Woolworths".
"Once this process is completed, we will share the report’s findings subject to any legal considerations."
NZ Food Safety director Vincent Arbuckle said it investigated 800 to 900 food complaints a year.
"The vast majority of these are promptly investigated, corrective actions are put in place and the investigation is closed.
"The investigation into rodents at the Woolworths Dunedin South store has been substantially concluded, including completing the identification of causes and remedial actions.
"In a small number of cases, further enforcement action needs to be considered and, to do this, further information is sought and reviewed from the business involved.
"This can involve a significant number of documents and statements. This is the case for the Woolworths Dunedin South store."
Mr Arbuckle said legal reasons meant NZ Food Safety could not provide further details or a firm timeline at this time.
"In the meantime, we are satisfied that there are no ongoing issues with the Dunedin South store."
In February last year, rats reportedly ran riot at Countdown Dunedin South (now Woolworths Dunedin South) — wheels of cheese were being eaten; rats had chewed through the wiring of a forklift and a freezer; containers of ingredients used to make pizza bases and ciabatta had been compromised; and there were rats in the aisles, staff told the Otago Daily Times.
A photo emerged of a rat sitting in the deli section more than eight weeks before the problem became public.
Eventually, the MPI stepped in and the supermarket at 323 Andersons Bay Rd closed its doors on February 9, 2024.
NZ Food Safety launched a formal investigation into the cause of the rat infestation on February 14.
The supermarket reopened at the end of the month, by which time the supermarket had to publicly apologise for the fact more than 30 rats were captured and rat nests were discovered in the walls while the store was closed.
Yesterday, the MPI said it could not comment about the nature and extent of possible sanctions that Woolworths could face.
A Woolworths NZ spokesman said the company took the situation seriously.
"Pests are something that every food business has to manage and we take that responsibility seriously. Every one of our stores has a comprehensive pest management programme and we work with Rentokil to implement them.
"If a customer sees what they believe to be a pest in our stores, we ask that they let our store team know immediately so they can investigate."
