Why Coles has locked up these common household items

The supermarket has taken the drastic step of putting one popular item behind lock and key — but says it’s for a very good reason.

Coles has been forced to take drastic action when it comes to one common supermarket item, putting it behind lock and key.

A photo shared on Reddit last weekend shows that aerosol products at the Coles Express in The Myer Centre Brisbane have been placed in a lockable glass cabinet.

A Coles spokeswoman confirmed this was to “minimise harm” and prevent “misuse” of the deodorant cans, with the decision made in conjunction with local police.

“Chroming”, also known as “huffing”, is when household aerosol items like deodorant or hairspray are purposefully inhaled, with the butane in these products causing a short-lived high.

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Deodorant cans can be misused for “chroming” which causes serious health complications and even death. Picture: Supplied/file image.

Continued misuse of this products can cause serious health problems such as seizures, heart palpations or in extreme cases, sudden death.

Many shoppers expressed sadness that such a step was necessary, with one saying chroming was a “massive issue” in the area near where the Coles was located.

“As someone who deals with this on the regular working security for buses, all of them should be locked up like this,” one person said.

“Yeah it’s a pretty big issue, kids as young as 12 getting into it now,” one person wrote.

“Society has still not solved this problem? I remember this being a thing many years ago and forgot it was even a thing,” another commented.

A Coles shopper in Brisbane shared a photo of the new locked cabinet to Reddit. Picture:

Coles isn’t the only retailer to restrict access to aerosol products to prevent misuse in areas of concern.

The supermarket previously implemented the same restricted access to all its aerosol products in its Northern Territory stores.

Since introducing the locked cabinets at the Brisbane store Coles says it has received “positive feedback”.

“Like a number of retailers, Coles is co-operating with police to minimise harm caused by the misuse of aerosol products,” a Coles spokeswoman told news.com.au.

A number of our stores now have lockable aerosol cabinets installed, and customers seeking to purchase these products can simply ask a team member at the service desk for assistance.”