State Sues Whole Foods For Selling Products Containing Unregistered Pesticides

By Lydia O'Connor, Huffington Post

The market that touts itself as "America's healthiest grocery store" has been breaching California pesticide codes, the state says.

California is suing Whole Foods Market, claiming that the company is selling products containing pesticides not registered with the state. The four products in question are all pet products and repellants: Enviroman Bugs R Done insect spray, Natural Pine Pellets cat litter, Purely Botanical cat flea spray and Purely Botanical dog flea spray.

Read the full Huffington Post article here.

Charlotte Fadipe, Assistant Director of Communications for the California Department of Pesticide Regulation, told The Huffington Post that to sell a pesticide product in stores, a company must register it with the state so that it can be tested and approved for safe use.

"What we're saying to Whole Foods is, 'You are selling unregistered pesticides that we all use on our family pets, that therefore we're bringing into our homes, and by law, you have to register it as a pesticide and have not been doing so,'" Fadipe said. "We cannot say that this product is safe."

Whole Foods told HuffPost that it could not comment on pending legal issues.

Fadipe, however, said that this has been an ongoing issue with the grocery store and that they will be investigating Whole Foods for a range of products they believe are unregistered and being sold in their California locations.

Continue reading here.