Fur-ore over children's T-shirts

Pom-poms on children's T-shirts being sold by Woolworths have been found to contain animal fur - prompting a product recall by the retailer.

The chain‚ which prides itself on being environmentally aware‚ has pledged to step up its checks on animal welfare and to improve its controls and testing to ensure this does not happen again.

A total of 1‚276 of the affected T-shirts have been sold already.

They are the Flamingo Tee (503898756) sizes 2-9; Lets Roll Tee (503972536) sizes 9-15; and Milkshake Tee (503916888) sizes 9-15. Shoppers will be given a full refund if they return it to a Woolies store.

Woolworths policies state that no animal fur may be used in any of its products.

Announcing the product recall‚ Woolworths said in a statement on Wednesday that it was alerted to the potential use of animal fur in the pom-pom trims on three children’s T-shirts.

"With immediate effect‚ the product was removed off the shelf‚ pending further investigation.

"Independent testing was commissioned and has confirmed that the fibre used in the pom-pom trim is indeed animal fur.

". . . We would like to sincerely apologise to our customers for this disappointing incident. This does not reflect the high standards we have set for ourselves."

Woolworths said its animal welfare policies form part of its contractual agreements with its suppliers to which they are obligated to adhere.

"In this instance‚ our supplier purchased trims from a 3rd party based on our synthetic specifications and did not test whether the fibre was synthetic or from animal fur. They are now placing additional emphasis on managing these sourcing processes better.

". . . In light of this incident‚ we will reinforce our policies governing animal welfare to ensure further awareness at all levels and add additional controls and testing to ensure this does not happen again."