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Coles customer mortified after cutting into oozing ‘green' chicken

A Coles roast has left a foul taste in the mouth of some shoppers after they discovered an unsightly oozing of green coming from inside their cooked chicken.

The $8.62 whole Australian chicken, purchased from Coles Eastlands in Rosny, Tasmania, was being cut into four pieces for the Prendergast’s dinner on Sunday night.

In the process, light green flesh revealed itself, along with what John Prendergast described as green oil.

Photo shows the front of a Coles store.
The roast chicken spent two hours in the oven after being bought from Coles Eastland in Tasmania. Source: Google Maps

Mr and Mrs Prendergast waited two hours while the tempting aromas of their cooking chicken filled their home, only to discover it was ultimately inedible.

“It smelled quite good actually, I was looking forward to it. The only reason we noticed the green was because we were feeding four people so we cut into it instead of pulling some off,” Mr Prendergast told Yahoo News Australia.

He said his wife was the unfortunate person to first discover the discoloured flesh.

“She told me to come and look. She and I were shocked and pissed as we were looking forward to it for dinner. As you can imagine after cooking for two hours, you could smell it,” he said.

On the side of the plate, they also spotted what looked to be green oil, which combined with the green flesh was enough to see the roast tossed into the bin.

Photo shows green flesh inside a roast Coles chicken.
The chicken was found to be green on the inside. Source: Supplied

The couple had to then drive to their local chicken shop and collect a replacement roast in time for dinner.

Despite the ordeal, Mr Prendergast said his family was unlikely to be turned off chicken permanently, as it was almost impossible to detect a problem by looking at its exterior.

“I’m not sure how it can be prevented. It had no strange marks or smell, and it wasn’t slimy. There was nothing that would indicate there was something wrong,” he said.

A Coles spokesperson said while the green flesh would not have been harmful if it was consumed, the chicken should not have been available for sale.

Photo shows green oil on the side of a Coles chicken.
The Prendergasts spotted what they said looked like green oil coming from the chicken. Source: Supplied

“Deep pectoral myopathy is a green discolouration of the flesh caused by swelling from oxygen deficiency in the muscle. This can occur if the bird flaps its wings too much,” they said in a statement.

“If the chicken has been consumed, it is not harmful, but this is not how we want our chicken to reach our customers. We have strict quality standards that our poultry partners work to and this chicken should not have been packed.

“Coles encourages the customer to contact our Customer Care team so we can follow up their complaint. As always we encourage customers to return any item they’re not 100% happy with to their nearest store for a full refund or replacement.”

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