No Frills freezers lose power, forced to throw out dumpsters full of food

Several freezers that lost power in the St. Clair West area No Frills forced the grocer to throw out two dumpsters worth of frozen food earlier this week.

A picture posted on Facebook captured the dumpster filled with frozen pizza, ice creams and frozen dinners and asked why some many products could be discarded, “when many are going hungry or can’t afford these items.”

CityNews reached out to Loblaw, the parent company of No Frills and were told that on Christmas Day, the majority of the freezer units at the location had lost power.

The grocery store, which is east of Oakwood Avenue, was closed on Boxing Day while the freezers are fixed, but the food inside was not safe to eat or sell.

“We have very strict food safety protocols in place for theses types of of situations and always put the safety of our customers first,” a statement provided by Loblaw read. “While we understand the concerns raised about food waste, the store owner did the responsible thing by disposing of the food.”

While it’s not clear if any members of the public took advantage of the discarded food before the dumpsters were removed, Public Health encourages people not to ingest any food that was not stored at a proper temperature.

Even cooking the products would not make them safe to consume.

Toronto Public Health Spokesperson Brian Thompson added discarded food could also be contaminated and exposed to rodents and other pests.

When asked whether a store has any responsibility in dissuading people from picking up the food, Thompson said they are only required to ensure waste has been removed, but does recommend garbage containers are “lockable or secured in order to prevent illegal dumping and protection from rodents.”