Egg Safety Concerns Prompt Changes at Major Supermarkets in Australia

The feature article delves into the alarming situation where consumers are buying potentially infected eggs from large grocery chains in Australia. Recent food poisoning outbreaks have prompted medical experts to investigate the rising cases linked to eggs, particularly those that are lightly cooked or raw. Research indicates a strong association between these incidents and salmonella bacteria found in unrefrigerated eggs. Experts suggest refrigeration as a preventive measure against salmonella contamination. Consequently, supermarket chains like Woolworths have responded by storing eggs at temperatures below seven degrees Celsius to curb bacterial spread. Other smaller chains have followed suit, but Coles faces criticism for not addressing customer concerns promptly, leading to a social media backlash and calls for boycotting. The article highlights that the absence of clear symptoms for salmonella infection complicates diagnosis and increases risks. Medical professionals urge retailers to prioritize food safety as the risk of widespread illness remains unpredictable. Existing regulations mandate specific handling procedures for eggs to minimize contamination risks during storage and transportation. Despite this, there are gaps in adherence, particularly concerning how long eggs remain in stores before sale. After sustained public pressure, Coles has stated compliance with Food Safety Australia New Zealand standards but faces scrutiny alongside Aldi, which reportedly fails to maintain safe egg storage practices.

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What if you get to know that you are buying infected eggs from the large grocery chains
in your country? Won’t you be disappointed? A similar thing happened while the shoppers of the
famous supermarket chains in Australia got to know that they are being served eggs from
unrefrigerated shelves that may be affected by the salmonella bacteria.
The recent outbreaks of food poisoning have made the doctors and the medical experts in
thinking the cause of such increasing problems in the country. The latest researches have also
indicated that the food poisoning is mostly associated with the eggs, especially due to the lightly
cooked or uncooked eggs that tend to contain the contaminated raw eggs in Australia (Steve
Lillebuen, 2017). Furthermore, the infectious diseases experts from the national universities in
Australia state that the eggs should be refrigerated for preventing the salmonella bacteria.
Due to this current outbreaks and the experts’ opinion regarding the egg refrigeration, the
supermarket chains have now come under pressure for moving their eggs to the cold storage
from warm shelves. Some of the giant supermarket chains such as Woolworths have already
started keeping the eggs in the refrigerated shelves as the customers have continued the concern
for the eggs. The organization has also promised keeping the eggs in a safe place so that the
customers do not have to think twice before they buy the eggs from them. Most of the
Woolworths outlets have now incorporated numbers of new cabinets for keeping the eggs in a
cold shelve and under seven degrees of temperature. Keeping eggs in such a cool place helps
preventing the spread of salmonella bacteria al around the country.
Following the footsteps of Woolworths, several small grocery chains have also started
keeping the eggs in refrigerated shelves. The widespread drive of keeping the eggs in the cool
place has made the giant grocery chain Coles coming under serious pressure from all of its

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customers for moving their eggs off the regular shelves and keeping them in the refrigerator.
However, the organization has still been silent on this issue and did not reply to any of such
concerns. This attitude has upset the customers to a great extent which has also led to threatening
of boycotting the stores until any action on this issue has been taken. A huge outburst had taken
place on social media sites as several angry shoppers have taken the way of social media for
venting their frustration. They have also started the campaign of getting the eggs back in the
fridge and started posting on the facebook page of the company. Disgusted customers also
expressed their concern regarding the organization taking the health of the general customers on
their own hand and pushing them in danger gradually (Steve Lillebuen, 2017). The anger started
increasing when Coles did not reply to any of the concern posted by the customers on the social
media. Some of the customers even posted that the egg cartons say to keep those in the cool,
refrigerated place, so the company is ought to maintain this standard. Due to these recent
outbreaks on social media, the brand image of the supermarket chain has affected to a great
extent.
Even the medical experts have continuously cautioned the customers about buying eggs
in summer months as the rates of people affecting by the salmonella virus have been increasing
gradually. The infection caused by this virus mostly affects the intestines and generally spread
by the contaminated water and food. The raw meat, eggs, seafood that is hydrated with the virus
causes this disease in human beings. The most frightening factor of this disease is that there is no
such specific symptom for identifying whether the virus has affected or not. Generally the person
gets abdominal cramps, diarrhea or fever. There are several times when the doctors cannot figure
out the reason for such disease and the patient tends to deteriorate more.

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The doctors and medical experts have indicated that the organizations, especially
the retail stores need to be more cautious about the food and health safety as the epidemics
related to egg consumptions are increasing. Therefore the supermarket chains should keep the
safety of food at their first priority as this issue can soon turn into serious sickness and
hospitalization of many. The experts cannot also predict the timing of the disease as it happen at
any time round the year. Therefore they suggest that we all should take care and try different
prevention methods so that the disease does not turn into an epidemic (Parker, 2013). As this
virus is generally found on the birds, the germ spreads through the fasces to their eggs. Moreover
the food and health safety laws strictly states that the eggs should be washed, checked whether
there is any crack on them, graded and kept in cold storages under seven degrees of temperature
even before they are being transported. The transportation should also be done by the
refrigerated trucks for reducing the potential risks of bacterial infections. After the eggs reach the
supermarket chains, they should also be kept in a place that does not cause any harm to the food.
Many experts consider that the time while the eggs stay in the store outlets, acts as a missing link
in the entire safety chain of the food. So, the customers of giant supermarket like Coles are
concerned with the safety issues to a great extent and started refusing buying eggs from the store.
After two days of continuous blame on Coles regarding their food safety regulations, the
organization has started taking effective steps and started replying to the concerns saying that
their practice is entirely adhered by the Food safety Australia and New Zealand (FSANZ)
standards. Coles have also told a leading daily of Australia that they are holding on all the safety
and health regulations regarding the storage of eggs, however it has been proved recently that
Aldi is not keeping the eggs in a safe and cool place, whereas Woolworths have agreed that they
have started the process and soon they will make this process happen in most of the stores soon.

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Reference List
Parker, C. (2013). Voting with your fork? Industrial free-range eggs and the regulatory
construction of consumer choice. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and
Social Science, 649(1), 52-73.
Parker, C., & Scrinis, G. (2014). Out of the cage and into the barn: supermarket power food
system governance and the regulation of free range eggs. Griffith Law Review, 23(2),
318-347.
Steve Lillebuen, C. (2017). Supermarkets 'missing link' in egg-related salmonella protection. The
Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 29 October 2017, from
http://www.smh.com.au/national/health/supermarkets-missing-link-in-eggrelated-
salmonella-protection-20160106-gm0ij5.html