Coles shoppers shocked by furry find in meat section

There are concerns for food safety at a Coles supermarket after shoppers made a furry find in the meat section.

Shoppers were shocked to find a furry friend hiding in the Coles meat section.

Shocking video has emerged of a possum crawling over packaged meat at a Coles supermarket in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs.

Coles shoppers made the stunning, furry find in the fridge of Coles’ Mitcham supermarket on Monday, prompting food safety concerns.

Mitcham local Teresa Carratelli spotted the marsupial while shopping with her dad in the suburban Coles supermarket at 2.30pm on April 10.

She told The Whitehorse Leader she let out a small scream when she saw the bush critter scurrying along the bottom shelf of the fridge because she initially thought it was a rat.

“I got a little bit closer and realised it was a possum, and I thought (the) poor little thing must be so scared,” Ms Carratelli said.

But she was quick to film it on her phone camera and capture the furry interloper in action.

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A possum was spotted crawling across packaged meat products at Coles Mitcham on Monday, April 10, 2023. Picture: Supplied.

She said a handful of other shoppers also stopped in their tracks and tried to catch the possum, attempting to “scoop it up with a basket or a bag”.

Mr Carratelli told the newspaper she had “never seen anything like it” in her two years shopping at the Mithcham Coles and it would not deter her from shopping regularly at the store.

“You would hope that all that meat was protected, at the same time you would want them to clean out the area,” Ms Carratelli said.

As well as a thorough cleaning, she hoped the area would also be kept safe from another, similar incident.

“I don’t know how it (the possum) got in there, but I felt sorry for it and I hope they removed it safely.”

Shocking discovery in Coles meat section. Picture: Supplied.

Shocking discovery in Coles meat section. Picture: Supplied.

News.com.au approached Coles regarding this incident, how the possum was removed, how the fridge was cleaned, and what happened to the meats after the fact.

“Coles takes food safety seriously and we work hard to keep a clean environment in our stores,” a spokeswoman said in a statement on Wednesday.

“We have an integrated pest management system, which primarily focuses on keeping pests out of our stores, then controlling pests should they find their way into our stores.”

The video was also shared to social media, drawing out mixed responses.

Most used the chance to show off their dark sense of humour about the “fresh” find.

One wrote customers “ain’t gonna get much fresher meat than that”.

“Some of the livestock was not fully processed?” someone asked.

Others joked the possum was also feeling the crunch of cost of living pressures, saying it was “looking for post Easter bargains”, or that even it “doesn’t want to be Vegan”.

“It’s also in their recipe section … slow cooked with rosemary and sage burnt butter,” another replied.

However there was some sympathy for the “poor terrified creature”, and many hoped it returned to its habitat safely.

Originally published as Coles shoppers shocked by furry find in meat section