Woolworths "breaking its own Corporate Social Responsibility Charter...

...by knowingly selling ineffective and possibly harmful products”

A story in yesterday’s Sydney Morning Herald says that Woolworths is putting people at risk by continuing to sell herbal weight-loss powders and pills that a leading medical scientist says are dangerous.

Professor Lesley Campbell from St Vincent’s hospital in Sydney is demanding that Woolworths justify its decision to continue selling the weight-loss pill Xantrax, even through the pill distributor has been banned by the TGA from making appetite-suppressant and weight-loss claims.

This is yet another example of Woolworths trying to absolve themselves of their ethical responsibilities. Their Corporate Social Responsibility charter states a pledge to “always be truthful in what we advertise and how we promote the products we sell”. Clearly their charter isn’t worth the paper it’s written on (no doubt supplied by APP from unsustainable forest fibre).

Professor Campbell has ‘put Woolworths on notice’, saying that should anyone suffer an adverse effect or die because of the TGA-banned products they’re selling, that St. Vincent’s hospital will use its record of correspondence to prove Woolworths continued to sell the discredited products despite knowing they were ineffective and possibly dangerous.

I’m glad Professor Campbell is putting pressure on Woolworths about this.

Woolworths just continues to treat us with contempt.