Social media users have been left stunned by a series of wild photos highlighting the impact that Victoria’s recent power outages had on several Coles supermarkets.
Sharing on Reddit, one Coles shopper posted an image showing the freezer and chilled foods aisle at the Middle Camberwell store.
The photo shows hundreds of products piled into scores of trolleys in the middle of the aisle, which has been blocked off completely to customers.
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A warning sign at the front of the chilled foods section reads: “Dear Customers. Please DO NOT PURCHASE DAIRY OR FROZEN products as their quality may be compromised due to recent power outage. Apologies for the inconvenience!”
In another Reddit post, an image of a large skip of discarded milk containers was shared by another Coles customer.
A Coles spokesperson has confirmed that dozens of stores were affected by Tuesday’s storms across Victoria and that staff had no choice but to throw away produce.
“As a result of the recent weather in Victoria, around 30 of our stores across Victoria lost power at different periods,” the spokesperson told 7NEWS.com.au.
“All of our stores are now back open, and our team is working hard today to restock our shelves, so we can continue to serve the community.
“While most of our stores were quickly back online, some of our stores were without power for longer which has meant there is some food that needs to be discarded.
“At Coles, food safety is paramount – and unfortunately, the food we are disposing of is unsafe for sale or to be donated to food rescue charities.”
7NEWS.com.au understands that other supermarkets were also affected by power outages.
The photos left many social media users stunned by the enormous wastage.
But while many were disappointed to see so much food end up in garbage bins, others said it was understandable.
“Keeping potentially contaminated food and/or beverages is a lawsuit waiting to happen not worth the risk or potential fall out,” said one.
Added another: “Yeah my local Coles fridge areas were all empty this morning. All dairy, fancy cheese (sob) and meat stuff all gone. Our power was off from like 3:45pm until 12:30am so it was off for quite a while and pretty warm outside.”
