Supermarket chain Woolworths has assured customers that it will henceforth be storing all of its eggs on refrigerated shelves, but rival chain Coles hasn't vowed to follow suit. And customers are pissed.Coles shoppers are taking to social media, vowing to boycott its stores and make their grocery purchases at Woolworths until the supermarkets follow suit and agree to chill their eggs. But instead of bowing straight away to consumer pressure, Coles has opted to vehemently defend itself via social media, arguing that it's still adhering to health and safety standards, which do not currently require refrigeration in Australia.READ: I Eat Food off the Floor All the Time, and I'm Proud of It
@maddekatie FSANZ advises there's no need to refrigerate hen's eggs to prevent bacterial growth, as long as they remain intact. 2/2
— Coles Supermarkets (@Coles) January 11, 2016
@sydbusinspector we adhere to all health & safety regulations for egg storage. 1/2 — Coles Supermarkets (@Coles) January 11, 2016
@robbineal we understand Robbi. Refrigerating eggs doesn't significantly reduce the risk of salmonella. — Coles Supermarkets (@Coles) January 8, 2016
@coles Just another reason to boycott #coles as it won't sell eggs from refrigerated cabinets. #Aldi also guilty. #woolworths here I come. — Apples (@appleshk) January 9, 2016
Food Safety Australia and New Zealand standards permit keeping eggs on room-temperature shelving alongside other shelf-stable foods, such as cereal, although many Australian egg producers and wholesalers recommend refrigeration. However, prior to their arrival at stores, the eggs must be rinsed, inspected, graded, and stored and transported in chilled rooms to minimize bacterial growth.According to the Sydney Morning Herald, food poisoning peaks in Australia in the summer months, and only recently have officials thought to point fingers at supermarkets for contributing to outbreaks with their egg storage practices.@eatay3 FSANZ advises that there is no need to refrigerate hen's eggs to prevent bacterial growth, as long as they remain intact. — Coles Supermarkets (@Coles) January 8, 2016
Supermarket shelves are the "missing link" between farm and consumer where bacterial infection can spread, according to Brian Ahmed, president of the Victorian Farmers Federation's egg sector. "[Eggs] should be treated exactly like raw meat," he told the Herald. Typically, eggs become contaminated by salmonella through the feces of birds.Food poisoning rates have doubled in the past decade in Victoria, with roughly 40 percent of cases believed to be caused by eggs, according to the Daily Mail.Not all stores are so concerned about the recommendations. Aldi and Coles are holding fast to their right to keep eggs lukewarm.Although egg refrigeration is the standard in the US, many European countries, including the UK, tend to leave their eggs out as well. This is due to a difference in how eggs are processed between continents; in America, eggs are washed and sprayed with sanitizer as soon as they arrive at their distributor. If they were to be removed from refrigeration at that point, their risk of bacterial growth would increase dramatically as the egg would "sweat" through its shell, similar to how a glass of water forms condensation and becomes wet to the touch.In contrast, European egg farmers—particularly those in the UK—believe that this washing process might actually transfer salmonella bacteria from the outside of the egg to the inside, due to possible damage that might be caused to the egg shell. Instead, they use different animal husbandry and collecting practices in efforts to prevent salmonella bacteria from remaining on the shell in the first place.The key is consistency. If egg distributors are keeping their eggs refrigerated, then ideally, the supermarkets they're delivering to should follow suit (at least in principle).Soon, if the remainder of Australian markets follow suit and make like Americans, young Aussies might feel like us Yankees—wondering how it ever could be that eggs could sit on a shelf next to a box of crackers. In the meantime, we can sit back and watch even consumers and supermarkets alike get egg on their faces while locked in Twitter debate.READ: How You Can Get Food Poisoning from Food You Didn't Even Eat