A Canadian food professor says a grocery store sign telling customers about using fresh and frozen meat is the first of its kind he’s ever seen, prompting questions on whether these signs will become a new normal.
The sign in question was allegedly spotted at a Metro store in Ottawa, according to Dalhousie University Professor Dr. Sylvain Charlebois, who recently posted a picture of the sign on X.
Charlebois, who goes by “The Food Professor” on X, told Now Toronto he receives tons of emails everyday about shrinkflation, what Canadians see at the grocery store, and endless questions about food.
When Charlebois opened up this picture in his inbox, he was surprised to see a large sign saying, “the ground meats in this display have been produced using fresh and frozen meat.”
Although it’s common for this information to be put on labels, it’s the first time he’s seen a sign like this in Canada.
“It’s standard practice [to use fresh and frozen meat]. What is new is making it explicit in the store at a meat counter,” Charlebois told Now Toronto on Tuesday.
What is completely discouraged is to thaw and refreeze meat, according to Charlebois.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) also recommends against refreezing meat.
“I wasn’t surprised about peoples’ reaction but chances are they’ve already bought something like this,” he said.
Some Canadians who responded to the tweet seem to be aware of the CFIA regulations.
“That’s standard practice. Usually it’s fine print on the package. Perhaps they recently changed their process from using all fresh parts to using a mix of fresh trim and frozen bull meat, hence the signage letting customers know…in case they care,” one person responded.
Others are criticizing the lack of details on why the sign was put there.
“There should be a sign explaining the sign if they’re going to put the sign at all (or should say don’t re-freeze),” one person said.
And some are guessing the reasons for why it was put there.
“I’ve seen that before. It’s usually a little cheaper, and the sign is a warning that these packages should just be used instead of frozen, since you shouldn’t re-freeze meat,” another person commented on X.
Now Toronto reached out to Metro but did not receive comment in time of publication.
The CFIA states it’s important to keep cold food cold and hot food hot, so it never reaches the “temperature danger zone” where bacteria can grow quickly and cause food-related illnesses.
“As a society in Canada we are absolutely food safety focused. We are very risk averse when it comes to food safety. People want to make sure the food they buy is as safe as possible.” Charlebois said.
