In what can only be considered a HUGE embarassment to Coles, Masterchef contestants have bought pastry past its used by date. Isolated incident? Bullshit. Here’s my story.

March 1994, I go down to Coles at Chatswood Chase to buy something to cook for dinner. I choose fresh pasta with meat in it and a tub of pasta sauce. I drive the 5 mintues back to my house and cook it straight away. Mine was actually within its used by date, but was obviously not kept refrigerated properly (no doubt stacked too high and out of the cool zone). 

Next morning,  around noon, violent vomiting, quite literally emptied my entire stomach and couldn’t keep anything down for at least 6 hours afterwards, not even water. In hindsight, being home alone while this was happening was extremely dangerous and I should have called the ambulance and been taken to hospital.

The chain reaction here is that this was an event that started a severe case of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and completely destroyed my digestive system and caused massive issues in other areas that I will live with for the rest of my days on this planet.

It’s 16 years later and I am still not 100% and the reason I am self employed is that some days I just can’t get through the day without a sleep.

I check EVERY piece of food I buy. I float all my egss. I smell EVERYTHING. I always pick up refrigerated goods from the BACK of the open fridges.  

To the minimum wage shelf packer who can’t be bothered doing their job properly, leaving bad food on shelves, to those who don’t stack the fridges properly and to the crappy managers who don’t train or supervise their staff properly, I leave you with this message.

DO YOUR FUCKING JOB. YOU’RE SCREWING WITH PEOPLE’S LIVES HERE. IF YOU CAN’T, GO AND DO SOMETHING ELSE FOR A DOLLAR.