By CAM LUCADOU-WELLS
Online poor hygiene claims go pear shaped as Facebook post is removed…
A FRUIT and vegetable business in Fountain Gate has used social media to hit back at a former manager’s claims on Facebook of “appalling” food safety and hygiene standards at its shop.
A & S Wholesale Fruit and Vegetables spokeswoman Sophie Broomfield said the company decided to get “on the front foot”, countering ex-employee Michael Storer’s claims with its own Facebook post.
Ms Broomfield said Facebook, at A & S Wholesale’s request, had removed Mr Storer’s post on Wednesday.
A Casey Council inspection, sparked by Mr Storer’s claims, had also cleared the store of food safety and hygiene issues on Wednesday, Ms Broomfield said.
Mr Storer’s post, comprising graphic photos of vermin and cockroaches amongst fruit and vegetables, went viral when it was posted on Monday night.
It was shared more than 27,000 times in less than two days.
“My thoughts are they’ve been taken in the shared rubbish areas of the shopping centre, not in a cool room nor where we store food,” Ms Broomfield said.
“He’s obviously a disgruntled ex-employee.
“Social media is, unfortunately, the beast it is. It can be the vehicle for nasty commentary such as this.
“That’s why we responded to the post in the way we did.”
On Tuesday, the shop published an open letter on Facebook to Mr Storer, thanking him for his work earlier this year.
“The reason we hired you (and will continue to hire others like you) is because we take our produce quality, staff safety, training and food handling seriously,” the A & S Wholesale post stated.
“We want to assure our customers that our produce is stored and rotated appropriately on a daily basis to ensure that all food is fresh, clean and handled effectively.
“We have strict cleaning and hygiene policies in place that we continue to work on and improve.
“Extensive pest control is also in place at all of our stores to prevent and eliminate issues of this type if and when they arise.”
The company’s Facebook site, which features recently-updated cover and profile pictures of fresh fruit and vegetables, stated that it had added signage and replaced ladders and cutting benches.
It had also continued to invest in staff training, the post said.
“As you are aware, like many businesses in the food industry, A & S has frequent visits from the Health Department and WorkSafe and we continue to work co-operatively with both of those organisations.
“We look forward to servicing the needs of our customers for many more years to come and their feedback, like yours, is always welcome.”
On Monday (5 October) Mr Storer posted about the reasons he had resigned from A & S Wholesale’s Fountain Gate shop after three months in the job.
Mr Storer claimed he had been employed to “change the culture and fix standards” within the store but was unable to implement change.
His post claimed a long list of alleged issues around health, cleanliness and safety, with specific examples.
“This post is not about a disgruntled former employee having a rant,” he said in his post.
Mr Storer has not yet responded to Star News’s inquiries.
Casey Council acting community safety manager Richard Maugueret said on Wednesday 7 October that the council was unable under the Food Act to give information about its “ongoing” investigation of the store.
A spokeswoman for Scentre Group, on behalf of Fountain Gate, stated that the shopping centre had contacted the retailer after the claims surfaced.
“In this instance, the retailer in question has responded directly to their customers via social media, addressing all concerns levelled at their operations.”
WorkSafe stated on Wednesday that it had received a complaint and was making inquiries into the matter.
