MetCash confirms mould presence in Bundaberg IGA

A major grocery company has revealed what it will do next to deal with mould in a Bundaberg grocery store after a former nurse reported the issue to a health and workplace watchdog.

A former nurse has raised concerns over possible mould in a Bundaberg grocery store.

The parent company of a Bundaberg IGA has confirmed the presence of mould after a former nurse flagged concerns after noticing a “awful smell” upon entering the store.

Cheryl Pershouse and her husband Keith visited the Everfresh IGA in Bundaberg on Monday, February 5 when they noticed a putrid odour radiating through the store.

“We just went in there to buy something, it’s a really clean store normally, but there was just this awful smell,” Mrs Pershouse said.

After chatting with staff, who said they were unsure what was causing the odour, Mr Pershouse noticed what looked like mould growing across the ceiling and around air conditioners, with “spores everywhere”.

So concerned over the risk of mould-borne illnesses affecting staff and customers, Mrs Pershouse lodged a complaint with Workplace Health and Safety and Queensland Health, which was transferred to the Wide Bay Hospital and Health Service.

The WBHHS informed this publication the mould concern was “not a public health risk under the Public Health Act 2005,” and a MetCash representative confirmed that an environmental health officer had attended the store.

The MetCash team oversees the independently run IGA operation.

Speaking on the odour, MetCash senior media manager Heather Howell said the “foul” smell had been caused by a blocked drain in the deli coffee shop area of the store.

Multiple images show blackened patches on the ceiling of the shopping centre.

“[They] contacted their plumber immediately and he attended to the blocked drain within two hours of being notified, and the drain was unblocked,” she said.

“Additionally, they have installed an upgraded manual trap to prevent any future occurrences.”

While the team waits on a report from the environmental health officer, Ms Howell confirmed the presence of mould in the store, which she attributed to plumbing issues compounded by wet and humid weather.

“Recent building maintenance issues with external plumbing causing roof leaks and the extreme weather conditions have caused high humidity, which has contributed to the mould growth,” she said.

“The landlord had his plumber attend last week and repairs were made to the boxed gutters.

“To resolve this issue, the store have expedited their quarterly AC service, and their contractor has informed them that it will be completed by the end of this week.”

Ms Howell further noted damaged ceiling tiles would be replaced “within the next week” with a fresh coat of paint planned for mid-March.

“The store team is as always committed to providing a clean and pleasant environment for all their customers, and would like to assure local shoppers that they are taking the necessary steps to ensure that this situation does not happen again in the future,” she said.