The majority of UK supermarkets that have gardening ranges continue to sell high-risk pesticide products such as weedkillers. Many people are understandably shocked to see these poisons still nestled among the food aisles. There is absolutely no justification for pesticides that pose a risk to human health and environment to be used by the general public without any training or guidance on how to minimise the risks.

In fact, in 2019, France banned all non-agricultural pesticides meaning they are now only available to licensed farmers to use on agricultural crops. The UK government should follow suit but, in the meantime, supermarkets have a clear role to play in reducing the availability of these products by stopping selling them. Instead, they could be offering low-risk alternatives to their customers by selling ranges of non-chemical products such as biopesticides.

In addition, supermarkets should not be offering deals or discounts which encourage shoppers to buy more pesticides then they need.  This can lead to people eventually getting rid of unused pesticides by pouring them down the sink or putting them in the bin which can contaminate water and soil. It also contravenes the UN International Code of Conduct on Pesticide Management which says that retailers should not offer “…incentives or gifts to encourage the purchase of pesticides.”

While supermarkets phase out the sale of chemical pesticide products, in the meantime they should be providing guidance to shoppers on how to minimise the risks to the natural environment and their own health associated to pesticide use.

Of the ten largest UK supermarkets, six continue to sell high-risk pesticide products (Asda, Aldi, Lidl, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s and Tesco). The total excludes M&S and Iceland which do not stock gardening ranges, plus Co-op and Waitrose which both took the hugely positive step of announcing an end to their sale of pesticides in 2021. Four out of the six supermarkets which still sell high-risk pesticide products told PAN UK that they also stock non-chemical alternatives (all but Aldi and Lidl).