The good news is that of all the infringements judged so far in 2017, “convenience stores” (27), “grocery stores \/ butcheries” (75) and “hypermarkets” (12) constitute only 10% (114 ) of all convictions (1081).<\/p>\n
We agree, however, that a safety infraction is always one too many, although some are more acceptable than others: they range from $ 250 to almost $ 10,000 depending on the seriousness of the offence as well as the number of offences involved.<\/p>\n
Benign offences<\/h5>\n
One we often see ($ 250 fine) is to have handled or stored food at the wrong temperature (to have held a heat-alterable product without constantly maintaining it at a temperature not exceeding 4\u00b0 C, etc.).<\/p>\n
In this category, which is mainly caused by negligence rather than bad intentions, we find half of the 114 convenience stores and grocery stores fined, including:<\/p>\n
- \n
- two\u00a0D\u00e9panneur du Coin<\/strong> Ultramar (former CST Brands), one in St-Alphone-de-Granby and the other in Alma;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- \n
- one\u00a0Voisin Shell<\/strong>\u00a0(Sobeys Qu\u00e9bec) in Deux-Montagnes;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- \n
- three\u00a0IGA <\/strong>including two Extra<\/strong> (Sobeys Qu\u00e9bec) in Saint-Hyacinthe, Baie-Comeau and Quebec City;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- \n
- one\u00a0Le Magasin<\/strong> (Groupe Harnois) in Saguenay;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- \n
- three\u00a0Metro<\/strong>\u00a0including two\u00a0Plus<\/strong> (Metro) in Montr\u00e9al, Saint-Augustin and Quebec City;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- \n
- one\u00a0March\u00e9 Ami<\/strong> (Metro) in Saint-Honor\u00e9-de-Shenley;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- \n
- one\u00a0Bonichoix<\/strong> (Loblaw) in Tring-Jonction;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- \n
- the rest are operated by independent owners for the most part.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Unacceptable infringements<\/h5>\n
Three other types of offences of the same amount ($ 250) have a much greater reputational impact, namely an establishment whose premises, equipment and equipment used for product preparation and storage were not clean, the presence of animals (including rodents), insects or their excrement or a place where the walls and ceilings are not washable, smooth and free from asperity.<\/p>\n
In one of these very bad categories, we find the folloging c-stores and grocery stores:<\/p>\n
- \n
- one\u00a0Petro-T<\/strong> (Groupe Harnois) in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield (animals, rodents, insects, excrements);<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- \n
- one\u00a0Bonichoix <\/strong>(Sobeys Qu\u00e9bec), one in Ascension-de-notre-Seigneur (cleanliness), one in La Guadeloupe (walls and ceilings are not washable);<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- \n
- one\u00a0Intermarch\u00e9<\/strong> (Loblaw) in Laval (uncleanliness);<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- \n
- two\u00a0Maxi<\/strong> (Loblaw) in Longueuil (uncleanliness);<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- \n
- one\u00a0Metro Plus<\/strong> (Metro) in Saint-J\u00e9r\u00f4me (uncleanliness);<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- \n
- the rest are operated by independent owners for the most part.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Another offence category associated with a more severe fine ($ 500 to $ 1,000) relates to food fraud, which is “any deception or attempt at deception, any statement or representation that is false, inaccurate, misleading, in any form whatsoever” or “to have detained meat or a meat product that came from another retailer” or “to have used a product, its container, its label or its packaging featuring an inaccurate, false, misleading indication “.<\/p>\n
In these categories of fines that do not inspire public confidence, we find:<\/p>\n
- \n
- one\u00a0Intermarch\u00e9<\/strong>\u00a0(Loblaw) on boulevard Viau in Montreal (misleading information);<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- \n
- one\u00a0Boni-Soir<\/strong> (Sobeys Qu\u00e9bec) at \u00cele Perrot (two $ 500 fines for inaccurate, false, misleading indication on product labels);<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- \n
- one\u00a0Voisin\u00a0<\/b>(Sobeys Qu\u00e9bec) in Sherbrooke (meat product that came from another retailer).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
And finally, the bad apples<\/h5>\n
Regardless of the industry, there will always be a small number of what may be called bad apples, an expression that is well suited to the food sector.<\/p>\n
These are businesses that collect health and safety offences like others would collect stamps, accumulating fines of up to $ 7,000. Many of them prefer simply to close the shop rather than paying the fees, thereby rendering a service to the public and consumers.<\/p>\n
Here are a few.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/depquebec.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/march\u00e9cetc.jpg\")
Sentenced to $ 3,250 in fines for uncleanliness and the presence of animals, this independent market located in Verdun has closed down its operations.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/depquebec.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/depproprio.jpg\")
Sentenced to two simultaneous fines of $ 250 each for uncleanliness and the presence of animals, this Rigaud Proprio retailer closed down the store.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/depquebec.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/lolivier.jpg\")
And finally, our all-round champion, for four fines totaling $ 7,100: food unfit for human consumption (twice) and presence of animals (twice). This store on Jean-Talon Street in Montreal is still open and in operation.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When food is handled or meals are prepared in-store, food hygiene and cleanliness are fundamental. So does the health of<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":105660,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[223],"tags":[1221,949,1222],"class_list":["post-105636","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsdep","tag-food-hygiene","tag-inspections","tag-mapaq"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/depquebec.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/hundredoffences.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/depquebec.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105636","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/depquebec.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/depquebec.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/depquebec.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/depquebec.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105636"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/depquebec.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105636\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/depquebec.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/105660"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/depquebec.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/depquebec.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/depquebec.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
- one\u00a0Voisin\u00a0<\/b>(Sobeys Qu\u00e9bec) in Sherbrooke (meat product that came from another retailer).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- one\u00a0Boni-Soir<\/strong> (Sobeys Qu\u00e9bec) at \u00cele Perrot (two $ 500 fines for inaccurate, false, misleading indication on product labels);<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- one\u00a0Intermarch\u00e9<\/strong>\u00a0(Loblaw) on boulevard Viau in Montreal (misleading information);<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- the rest are operated by independent owners for the most part.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- one\u00a0Metro Plus<\/strong> (Metro) in Saint-J\u00e9r\u00f4me (uncleanliness);<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- two\u00a0Maxi<\/strong> (Loblaw) in Longueuil (uncleanliness);<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- one\u00a0Intermarch\u00e9<\/strong> (Loblaw) in Laval (uncleanliness);<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- one\u00a0Bonichoix <\/strong>(Sobeys Qu\u00e9bec), one in Ascension-de-notre-Seigneur (cleanliness), one in La Guadeloupe (walls and ceilings are not washable);<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- one\u00a0Petro-T<\/strong> (Groupe Harnois) in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield (animals, rodents, insects, excrements);<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- the rest are operated by independent owners for the most part.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- one\u00a0Bonichoix<\/strong> (Loblaw) in Tring-Jonction;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- one\u00a0March\u00e9 Ami<\/strong> (Metro) in Saint-Honor\u00e9-de-Shenley;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- three\u00a0Metro<\/strong>\u00a0including two\u00a0Plus<\/strong> (Metro) in Montr\u00e9al, Saint-Augustin and Quebec City;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- one\u00a0Le Magasin<\/strong> (Groupe Harnois) in Saguenay;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- three\u00a0IGA <\/strong>including two Extra<\/strong> (Sobeys Qu\u00e9bec) in Saint-Hyacinthe, Baie-Comeau and Quebec City;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- one\u00a0Voisin Shell<\/strong>\u00a0(Sobeys Qu\u00e9bec) in Deux-Montagnes;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n