Condition triggered by severe deficiency of vitamin C is linked to food insecurity, says report

Loblaw Cos. Ltd. and Sobeys parent Empire Co. Ltd. are two of the three major Canadian grocery companies and each owns a number of grocery chains across the country. Both have been under investigation from Canada's Competition Bureau since March 1.

Visits to food banks have increased 50 per cent since 2021, says the report. Between February and April of this year, 25 per cent of people aged 18 to 24 went to a food charity because of lack of money.

The province’s poverty rate increased by 52% (from 8.6% to 13.1%) between 2021 and 2022, the highest rate in the country.

A boycott targeting Loblaw is gaining momentum online, with what could be thousands of shoppers taking their money elsewhere in May.

Charlebois said the “most alarming” findings from the survey were that Gen Z and millennial Canadians were the age groups most likely to believe they had gotten sick in the last year after consuming spoiled food.

Canadians are applauding this savvy shopper, who also appears to be fed up with the high cost of groceries, for helping others save money where they can.

The retail giant has long been marred with issues on extremely high grocery prices, with Metro Inc. (TSX: MRU) taking a legal action alleging that Loblaws falsely implicated Metro in a bread price-fixing conspiracy, causing damage to its reputation.

With skyrocketing food prices, a housing crisis, and other related pressures, Jennery said the number of new clients entering the food bank system is now at an all-time high.

A customer browses an aisle at a grocery store In Toronto on Feb. 2, 2024. A growing group of Canadians are organizing a Loblaws boycott for May. (Cole Burston/The Canadian Press)