A worker at a major supermarket chain’s distribution centre has shared shocking pictures of rats running across floors and over products.
The employee made the squeamish discovery at Coles Forest Lakes distribution centre in Heathwood, in Brisbane’s south-west recently.
The former picker and packer, who worked at the facility for six years, said there is a good chance rat faeces are inside products that could be on supermarket shelves.
He snuck his phone – which is officially banned into the warehouse – to take photos and videos of the rats.
A former warehouse worker at a Coles distribution centre has revealed disturbing scenes of rats (pictured) inside the facility
The shocking photos shows the pests scurrying along the floor of the warehouse while some of them had chewed into packs of toilet rolls.
Photos of the disturbing scene shows dead baby rats laying on top of the toilet rolls after they made a mess attempting to get inside the plastic packs.
The worker, who chose not to be named, said the rats are consuming various household items including milk and soup stocks.
‘They rip into things like long-life milk — UP&GO is one of their favourites, especially the strawberry — and Campbell’s stock and Arnott’s biscuits,’ he told Yahoo.
‘There’s 100 per cent potential for some of their excrement to have seeped into the product.’
While the items that have been damaged are thrown out, the worker claimed some of the items are sent to a food bank.
The worker said the presence of rats at the facility has become a major problem and the pests are leaving behind a trail of destruction after they gnaw at the products.
‘It’s a complete infestation and the rats are defecating and pissing all over the products. There are rat faeces everywhere and the stench is terrible,’ he said.
The worker also took a video showing two rats facing off against one another near a pallet with boxes of goods stacked on top of one another.
The distressing sight led the worker to resign over the poor conditions inside the warehouse.
Products would be left partially open and when he would go to collect them, the contents would fall out.
The worker, who chose not to be named, said the rats are consuming various household items including milk and soup stocks. One photo shows dead baby rats laying on top of the toilet rolls after they made a mess attempting to get inside the plastic packs (pictured)
He said juice once sprayed all over him as he picked up the item after the rats found their way in.
He said staff were notified about the issue but claimed they didn’t want to deal with the problem as they believed it wasn’t their responsibility.
He said he decided to reveal what was happening inside the warehouse because the rat infestation putting workers at risk of catching diseases.
A spokesperson from Coles told Daily Mail Australia in a statement that the company ‘takes food safety seriously and we work hard to keep a clean environment in our stores and distribution centres’.
‘We have an integrated pest management system, which primarily focuses on keeping pests out, and then controlling pests should they find their way in.
Rodents have teeth that are extra-large which they use to help chew into food and also find shelter.
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