Coles Egg Safety: Media Release Report on Salmonella Outbreak Risks

This report analyzes a media release concerning Coles, a major Australian supermarket chain, and the pressure it faces regarding egg safety. The release discusses the potential risks of Salmonella outbreaks due to Coles' practice of storing eggs at room temperature, contrasting it with competitor Woolworths' refrigerated storage. The report highlights consumer concerns expressed through social media, calls from infectious disease experts for refrigerated storage, and the consumers' affairs minister's warning. It references the increasing number of egg-related Salmonella outbreaks and emphasizes the importance of safe food handling practices to prevent consumer illness and hospitalization. The report includes references to relevant academic articles and news reports that support the arguments made in the media release, providing a comprehensive overview of the issue.

Running head: MEDIA RELEASE
Media Release
Name of the Student
Name of the university
Author note

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MEDIA RELEASE
Coles comes under pressure for egg safety
The supermarket chain giant Coles is now under immense pressure for moving their
eggs off from the warm shelves to a cold storage. This is mostly because protecting the
customers from the Salmonella virus and matching the ongoing practice that the primary
competitors are following. Woolworths has already assured for keeping the eggs in the
refrigerated places as the nationwide overhaul regarding the refrigeration of the eggs in store
outlets.
It has been found out that numbers of Woolworth’s outlets have already installed new
cabinets during the past year. The main purpose of doing so was to allow the outlets to keep
the fresh eggs in a chilled environment that is below seven degrees and it had prevented the
eggs for spreading the harmful salmonella bacteria. Recently the leading retail stores of
Australia has continued to keep their eggs stacked on the warm shelves regardless of the
repeated warnings that this practice could lead to the increasing risk of outbreak of the
salmonella outbreak. The Associate Professor Martyn Kirk, an expert in epidemiology at the
Australian National University has recently stated that egg related outbreak of the salmonella
virus have been increasing in a rapid way (Angry customers turn on Coles, 2017). He also
added that it is very important for the supermarket chains to consider the egg related
salmonella prevention and keeping all the eggs under seven degree temperature as with the
outbreak of this risk, it can lead to serious illness of the consumers and hospitalization.
However, at this point Coles is not disclosing the fact that whether any of their outlets
are keeping the eggs refrigerated in a proper way, therefore it is leading to a continuous
criticism of the shoppers across the social media platforms. A random customer wrote on the
facebook page of the company that she will only buy eggs from Coles after they displays the
eggs being stocked in a chilled place (Angry customers turn on Coles, 2017). Even some

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MEDIA RELEASE
customers have wrote that the cartons also say to keep the eggs refrigerated, so the outlets are
ought to keep the eggs in a proper place.
The ongoing shopper revolt has also joined calls from different small stores in
Australia for keeping the eggs in cold storages. Professor Peter Collignon, an infectious
diseases expert at Australian National University's medical school has stated the eggs should
also be treated like raw meats and should be kept in the refrigerator (Angry customers turn on
Coles, 2017). The professor even sounded surprised with the less anxiety regarding this
matter as the products are supposed to be kept in a safe place. He also said that even at
supermarkets the products are supposed to be kept in the cold storage, not in any other place.
The consumers’ affairs minister has already warned the customers to be careful before
buying eggs in the summer months.

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MEDIA RELEASE
Reference list
Angry customers turn on Coles. (2017). Dailytelegraph.com.au. Retrieved 29 October 2017,
from http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/business/angry-coles-customers-want-
supermarket-chain-to-follow-woolworths-lead/news-story/
08691569e53135e0408d776e028ed075
PARKER, C. (2013). ORGANIZATIONAL CHALLENGES TO REGULATORY
ENFORCEMENT AND COMPLIANCE: A NEW COMMON SENSE ABOUT
REGULATION; SPECIAL EDITOR: SUSAN S. SILBEY: FRAMING AND
INTERPRETING THE REGULATORY ENTERPRISE: Voting with Your Fork?
Industrial Free-Range Eggs and the Regulatory Construction of Consumer
Choice. Annals, 649, 52-180.
Wright, A. P., Richardson, L., Mahon, B. E., Rothenberg, R., & Cole, D. J. (2016). The rise
and decline in Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis outbreaks attributed to egg-
containing foods in the United States, 1973–2009. Epidemiology & Infection, 144(4),
810-819.