I moved to Australia 13 months ago, and there were a few things I realised very quickly: It’s bloody hot, if I pronounce ‘deck’ in my Kiwi accent everyone laughs at me, and Bunnings’ sausage sizzles are a big deal.
So, when Bunnings announced a new health and safety plan yesterday the country collectively lost its mind.
Volunteers who cook up sausages for various community causes will now have to – wait for it – put the fried onion on the bottom.
Yep. Onion is no longer allowed to be placed on top of the sausage.
Outrageous, right?
Bunnings revealed the new rule yesterday, saying pieces of falling onion can become a “slipping hazard”.
“Safety is always our number one priority and we recently introduced a suggestion that onion be placed underneath sausages to help prevent the onion from falling out and creating a slipping hazard,” Bunnings chief operating officer Debbie Poole said.
“This recommendation is provided to the community groups within their fundraising sausage sizzle welcome pack and is on display within the gazebos when barbecues are underway.”
That seems fair enough, because 1) if there is someone out there who has slipped on onion, that is very unfortunate and painful, and 2) how does this tweak really change anything about the taste of the meaty treat?
But discussing the change on Wednesday morning's Today show, Karl Stefanovic made it known that he thought this was simply health and safety "gone mad".
He said putting the onion under the sausage was un-Australian.
"This will ruin Australia," he claimed, totally rationally. "Australia will not make it through today if this happened."
"Bunnings, you’ve done a lot of things right. But, I’m sorry, you’ve got this one wrong. You don’t mess with perfection."
Karl was not alone. People were MAD.
Of course, because this is the internet, people were also mad at those who were mad.
It all seems a bit... over the top, don't you think?
Onions on the bottom will not drastically alter the taste of your sausage, obviously, and buying a sausage will still provide a worthwhile donation to your local community.
If it's really that big of a problem, why don't you turn your sausage upside down. Or even try eating it on your head. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
If you do, please let us know how that goes.
Top Comments
I don’t see the problem. Taste will still be the same. I’m sure if you aren’t going in store and want to eat it sitting in your car or something, and you just have to have your onions on top, it’s not a safety issue but it is what it is. And Karl, if we didn’t know he had already lost the plot, this confirms it. Get a life dude. Interesting that the unhappy comments shown above were from men only (and the angry at the angry ones were women). First world problems at its finest
Why are people walking around eating in a store to begin with? You don't do it at the supermarket, you don't do it in clothing shops. I've never seen anyone walking into Officeworks with their sausage either so why do people think it's ok to walk around feeding their face? Probably the same people who don't want to eat it in their own car. If you don't want to eat it in your own car, then stand on the sidewalk and eat it.