Officials have issued warnings to Canberrans to avoid eating bread products purchased at Gunghalin Coles, after metal was found in a loaf purchased from the store. Chief Health Officer of ACT, Dr Paul Kelly, immediately requested that a notice be issued regarding all in-store Coles-brand bakery items that were baked between 1st November 2014 and the 16th February 2015.
Since the notice was issued, bread making at the Coles store has been suspended following an investigation into how the incident took place. According to Dr Kelly, it seems as though the original loaf was “contaminated by fragments of metal wire, originating from a piece of bakery equipment”. All bakery items were also cleared from the shelves following the discovery, to ensure that further issues could not occur.
Taking precautionary measures
During the on-site investigation into how the metal fragments ended up in the bread to begin with, ACT health inspectors suggested that all bakery items produced during this period should be disposed of. The group recommend caution. All regular customer of the Gunghalin Coles store are being advised to check their freezers and fridges for any bakery products from the store, including rolls, buns, and scrolls.
Coles has released a public statement saying that they will be doing everything that they can to e-mail online shoppers about the recall, to contact loyalty card members, and to provide alert information in store. The recall has even been announced through social media to extend the range of customers it has the potential to reach.
Shoppers who return any recalled bread or bakery product to the store will be given a full refund for the item’s original price.
The scope of the threat
At this point, Coles officials and ACT both believe that there is no reason for concern about the items purchased at other Coles’ stores. The reason for this is that all items are freshly made on site, and an incident within one location should not impact other areas.
Unfortunately, Canberra has been suffering a few issues regarding food safety recently giving consumers cause for concern.
For now, hopes are high that the Coles incident will be a one-off issue.