{"id":873098,"date":"2026-09-01T12:35:49","date_gmt":"2026-09-01T10:35:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=873098"},"modified":"2026-09-01T12:35:52","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T10:35:52","slug":"woolworths-product-pulled-from-shelves-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/business\/873098\/woolworths-product-pulled-from-shelves-in-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Woolworths product pulled from shelves in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Woolworths has pulled a WBeauty shampoo from shelves in South Africa after testing found a bacterium in a limited batch of the product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The retailer said it was voluntarily recalling WBeauty Complete Clarifying Shampoo, sold in a 250ml bottle, with immediate effect as part of its quality assurance processes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Woolworths, an initial issue was identified with a limited batch, prompting additional testing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Further tests detected the presence of Pluralibacter gergoviae, a bacterium that can sometimes be found in wet manufacturing environments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhile the risk to healthy individuals is considered low, customers with weakened immune systems are advised to discontinue use of the product to avoid possible bacterial infection,\u201d Woolworths said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The retailer has removed the affected shampoo from its stores and is asking customers who purchased the product to return it to their nearest Woolworths store.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCustomers will receive a full refund and do not need to provide proof of purchase,\u201d Woolworths said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The recalled product is the WBeauty Complete Clarity, also described as a deep-cleansing, clarifying shampoo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The product is designed to remove product build-up and excess oil, with ingredients including witch hazel, apple cider vinegar, activated charcoal and rose geranium oil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The shampoo forms part of Woolworths\u2019 WBeauty haircare range, which includes targeted formulas generally priced at about R199.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Woolworths said the WBeauty range is manufactured in accordance with its Good Beauty Principles, which cover areas such as formulation, ingredient sourcing, testing, and manufacturing practices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The products are formulated without sulphates, parabens, and mineral oil, and the range uses a combination of locally sourced ingredients, African botanicals, and cosmetic ingredients such as hyaluronic acid and peptides.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Woolworths also said that its beauty formulas are assessed by qualified independent toxicologists and accredited laboratories, and dermatologically tested for sensitive skin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The retailer said its manufacturing practices also adhere to vegan-friendly processing standards and are certified by Beauty Without Cruelty, which requires products to be made without animal testing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Product safety is critically important <\/h2>\n\n\n
\n
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WBeauty Complete Clarifying Shampoo<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

All WBeauty haircare products are locally produced in South Africa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It prioritises local manufacturing to support regional supply chains and reduce the environmental impact associated with transporting products over long distances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The recall highlights the importance of quality-control testing for personal-care products, particularly those manufactured in environments where moisture can provide conditions in which certain bacteria may occur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWoolworths prides itself on exceptionally high standards, and we go to great lengths to ensure every item we produce is of the quality our customers expect,\u201d the retailer said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cProduct safety is critically important to us, and the well-being of our customers is our first priority.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Woolworths has pulled one of its products from shelves in South Africa after testing found a bacterium in a limited batch.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":861969,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"failed","_sma_x_autopost_error":"Instagram publishing failed: Instagram returned HTTP 400: Media ID is not available","_sma_x_post_id":"2094736294890950888","_sma_facebook_post_id":"191437357620492_2192762028210863","_sma_instagram_post_id":"","_sma_x_attempts":2,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9872],"tags":[853,949],"class_list":["post-873098","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-south-africa","tag-woolworths"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/873098","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=873098"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/873098\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":873104,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/873098\/revisions\/873104"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/861969"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=873098"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=873098"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=873098"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}