Iceland’s Executive Chairman, Richard Walker OBE, wrote a comment piece for Mail Online about the dangers currently faced by supermarket workers in which he claimed three Iceland shop workers contracted HIV as a result of needlestick attacks while at work.
We believe this claim is false, with the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) stating the most recent documented case of HIV through needlestick injury was in 1999. We're unaware of any recorded person contracting HIV from a needle stick in the UK.
We work hard every day to challenge stigma and misinformation surrounding HIV and that one line – which was picked up by multiple media outlets – is setting us back in achieving our mission. It has a severe impact on the lives of people living with HIV.
On 21 September, this claim was finally removed with the update: 'Since this article was published, Iceland have clarified that they provided information to Mail Online in error regarding staff being infected with HIV and the article has been revised accordingly.'
While we welcome the line being removed, we believe it’s appropriate to publicly acknowledge the falsehood and apologise.
We tweeted our response, alongside a screenshot of the correction:
NEW: Important these @MailOnline articles have been updated to remove the false claim three @IcelandFoods colleagues are HIV positive as a result of needle attacks. Disappointing @icelandrichard won’t apologise for sharing a falsehood and how his company sought to weaponise HIV.
This action from Mr Walker falls shorts of Iceland’s values and is a disservice to their staff and customers. 61% of Iceland stores are in high or very high HIV prevalence areas. With 80% of staff living within three miles of an Iceland store, people living with HIV will be well represented in their team, not because of needle stick injuries or attacks.
Our Chief Executive, Richard Angell spoke to Mr Walker on the phone and also sent him a letter calling for an apology for spreading misinformation about HIV. He said: 'As soon as we saw Richard Walker’s claim that three employees at Iceland supermarkets are HIV positive as a result of needle attacks, we knew it wasn’t true.
'HIV doesn’t survive for long outside the body and we're unaware of any cases where someone contracted HIV as a result of a needlestick attack – let alone three people at one supermarket chain. We immediately contacted Iceland’s media team and yet it is only now, six days later, that the claim has been removed and a correction added to the article.
'It is so important that the line has been removed as it is highly damaging in terms of perpetuating HIV-related stigma and entirely misrepresents the transmission risk of needlestick injury or attack. We were determined it would not remain online for more people to see, but it’s disappointing Mr Walker won’t properly apologise for a falsehood and how his company sought to weaponise HIV in a completely unrelated story.'
