Mum shocked at appearance of Coles cake found in partner's office after two months
A Brisbane mother has been left shocked to find a piece of cake she bought from Coles was still intact and free from mould after sitting on her partner’s desk for two months.
Brittnee Rose raised concerns over the apparent level of preservatives added to the supermarket dessert, which she said was purchased to celebrate Mother’s Day with her family back in May.
She shared a picture of the perfectly intact tri-layered sponge Drip Cake to the Coles Facebook group on Tuesday morning.
“I decided to clean my partner's office and just found this Coles drip cake from Mothers Day!” she wrote.
“Gross I know! You'd think it would be mouldy... We didn't like the taste and thought it tasted to much like preserver and now we know why 😳😵”
Ms Rose said she bought the cake from the Coles in Upper Mt Gravatt on May 11 and placed it in the fridge until Mother’s Day, the following day.
When the day came around, the Brisbane mum said nobody in her family of four children under the age of six, plus three adults, liked the taste of the cake.
“It tasted too much like preservatives,” she told Yahoo News Australia.
Her partner took his piece to his office to eat, but never ended up having it. Instead he left it to sit on his desk, out in the open on the same plate, Ms Rose said.
Her partner initially forgot about the cake until weeks later when he found it still it appearing intact.
“He said it got to a point where he wondered if it would go mouldy so he just left it there,” she said.
The woman said she was cleaning out the room this week and "was utterly surprised" to find the cake was still mould-free, two months on.
A Coles representative responded to the woman’s Facebook post thanking her for getting in touch.
“We're sorry to hear you didn't enjoy our Drip Cake. We'll be sure to pass your feedback along to our Quality Team,” the Coles representative wrote.
But Ms Rose said she was surprised by the supermarket giant’s apology for the taste, rather than addressing her concern about it appearing to be so highly preserved.
"I was more shocked at their response regarding taste over and lack of concern for a cake that should be green with mould after essentially two months in a room," she told Yahoo News Australia.
Coles says cakes contain ‘small amount’ of preservatives
In a statement to Yahoo News Australia, Coles denied it packed its cakes with preservatives, claiming the drip cake contained only “a small amount of preservatives” in line with the Australia and New Zealand Food Standards Code.
“Mould requires air and moisture to grow and food left uncovered in an air-conditioned environment would dry out very quickly on the surface, creating a dry crust, which may prevent the occurrence of visible mould,” the supermarket stated.
”Our Coles Drip Cake, like all Coles Brand products, contains no artificial colours or flavours.”
The retailer said its cakes had a shelf life of 14 days, and while mould growth may not have been visible in this instance, consuming cakes beyond their Best Before dates was not recommended.
Customers who are not 100 per cent satisfied with their Coles brand cakes are encouraged to return the product to the store for a full refund or replacement.
Coles confirmed to Yahoo News Australia on Wednesday a representative has since spoken with the customer regarding the matter.
Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com.
You can also follow us on Facebook, download the Yahoo News app from iTunes or Google Play and stay up to date with the latest news with Yahoo’s daily newsletter. Sign up here.
