Supermarket fridges and freezers overheated in nine European countries — up to 50°C, food thrown away, in a suspected cyber-attack
Supermarket chains in nine European countries — Belgium, Estonia, Ireland, Finland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal and Sweden — reported that temperatures in some of their fridges and freezers soared overnight into Monday, to as high as 50°C, forcing stores to throw away spoiled food, AFP reports in its full account of Monday's wave, read in this pass. The two countries new since the first reports are Italy — at least four Coop supermarkets in Sicily and one business in Tuscany — and Portugal, where the Mosqueteiros group confirmed incidents at seven Intermarché stores; Ireland's Musgrave said 13 SuperValu stores were hit. The EU's agriculture and food commissioner, Christophe Hansen, called the incidents a deliberate attempt to disrupt the bloc's food supply chain and undermine consumer confidence, and Belgian federal prosecutors have opened an investigation. No group has claimed responsibility for either this wave or October's attack on French supermarkets, and no authority has named an attacker.