New Zealand supermarket becomes world’s first to use ‘period’ label on menstrual products

A New Zealand supermarket chain has said it will label all of its menstrual products with the word ‘period’ in a world first.

Countdown, which has 180 stores across the nation, says no other international retailer has ever labelled its products with ‘period’ before - often using euphemisms like ‘sanitary items’ and ‘personal hygiene’.

Countdown representative Kiri Hannifin said in a statement: “Words like ‘personal hygiene’ and ‘sanitary products’ give the impression that periods, which are an entirely natural part of life, are somehow something to hide to yourself, or that they’re unhygienic.

“They absolutely aren’t, and we can play an important role in helping change that.”

Social media users have been quick to praise the move, with Twitter user @clairstrickett commenting: “It's incredible in both senses of the word, this. No retailer has ever used the word "period" on their products before. The level of euphemism we lived with and accept as normal is extraordinary when you think about it.”

Another, @Kate_DowlingNZ, said: “Great move by Countdown to drop the euphemisms around period products. Hope other supermarkets will do this too; it's the 2020s, people!”

The move will also be reflected in Countdown’s online shopping platform, with products previously described as ‘intimate hygiene’ will now be labelled as ‘genital washes and wipes’.

It comes after New Zealand introduced a policy earlier this year to provide free period products in every high school in the country, with all schools able to opt in by next year.

At the time, New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Arden said that close to 95,000 girls between the ages of nine and 18 ‘may stay home’ during their period as they cannot afford period products.