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Refrigeration Failures Hit European Stores and U.S. Military Commissaries
Refrigeration equipment in supermarkets across Europe and at least six U.S. military commissaries failed at the end of August, leading to food being thrown out. The cause has not yet been determined, and a former FBI agent warns of possible similar attacks on American soil.
Refrigeration equipment in supermarkets across Europe failed, forcing stores to discard significant quantities of food. Affected establishments reported malfunctions in Sweden, Belgium and Luxembourg. In some systems, temperatures reached about 122 °F, which is more than 50 °C, making it impossible to store food. No one has been named as responsible, and no official attribution has been made.
Similar problems occurred in the United States. At the end of August, at least six military commissaries serving military bases experienced cooling malfunctions. The incidents were reported in the states of Arizona, Wyoming, Rhode Island, Mississippi and California. At Fort Irwin, sales at the commissary were limited to dry goods only, so service members and their families had to do without products requiring refrigeration.
The investigation is being conducted by the Army Criminal Investigation Division (CID) together with the Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA) and the Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS). French law enforcement, for its part, is checking whether a link exists between the American malfunctions and the European outages. At the same time, a cyberattack as the cause has not yet been established, and none of the versions has been confirmed.
Former FBI Special Agent Nicole Parker warned that similar attacks could also occur on U.S. territory. She described such a threat as asymmetric and called it psychological warfare aimed at people's everyday lives. Parker cautioned against drawing hasty conclusions about who may be behind the incidents, since the origin of the malfunctions is still unknown. Her warning concerns the mixing of facts and assumptions, not the risk itself.
Despite the uncertainty, officials and local leaders are advised to prepare in advance for service disruptions and to conduct drills. Families are recommended to stock up on food, water, medicine and important documents, and to have a battery-powered portable AM radio and a family communication plan for emergencies. According to these recommendations, such steps matter regardless of whether the malfunctions turn out to result from a cyberattack, a technical fault or some other cause.
Source: foxnews.com
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