Supervalu removes frozen and chilled food from shelves at 13 stores after cyberattack on fridges

Supermarket chain Supervalu has been hit by a cyberattack on its refrigeration systems, forcing it to remove chilled and frozen products from shelves in 13 stores on Monday morning as a precautionary measure.

The Irish Times understands that stock in Lucan, Blanchardstown, Waterford and Bray, among other locations, was impacted, with the bill expected to run to thousands of euro. The stores remain open, and all other products are available as normal.

In a statement, a spokesman for Supervalu owner Musgrave Group confirmed that a “cyber incident” affected its refrigeration systems. However, it said the impact was limited to a “specific model” of refrigerator.

“Our monitoring systems alerted us to the issue, and we took immediate action,” he said.

“As a precaution, chilled and frozen products in the affected stores have been removed from sale, and all other products remain available as normal. Customer safety is our first priority, and customers can be confident that products on sale in our stores have been stored at safe temperatures.”

Musgrave said its investigation into the incident is ongoing.

“We are working closely with the suppliers of the affected refrigeration equipment and with cybersecurity specialists to resolve the issue and restore normal operations as quickly as possible,” the spokesman said.

The incident follows a cyberattack last month on hundreds of fridges in French supermarkets that ​caused fires and food losses. The disruption affected 700 stores, including those from the Intermarché, Coopérative and Carrefour chains.

The hacks in France were executed through centralised, internet-connected fridge controllers that allow contractors to remotely monitor temperatures.

Attackers gained access to some of those systems and manipulated their settings, triggering prolonged defrost cycles that caused refrigerators and freezers to heat up.