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‘If you’re thinking of immigrating to Canada, DON’T’: $42 Sobeys salad, $14.99 PC maple syrup draws anger from Ontario grocery shoppers

'I beg your pardon': Canadian shoppers, NDP leader Jagmeet Singh are calling on the Trudeau government to make a change for food affordability

Canadian shopper outraged as Sobeys salad sells for more than $40 dollars (Twitter/Rob Gill)

After a recent incident where Loblaws received backlash from consumers for its unusually overpriced chicken, more Toronto shoppers are calling out grocery stores like Sobeys and Loblaws for selling overpriced items and for allowing runaway grocery inflation go unchecked.

Recently, a Toronto shopper called out Sobeys for selling a party-size Caesar Salad for $40.

"If you are thinking of immigrating to Canada, DON'T. You will pay over $1,600/month for a moldy apartment in a small city. You will pay $42.00 for a damn Caesar salad and you will earn $15/hr while being taxed on everything," the tweet read.

In another incident, a Canadian shopper was outraged at the price of maple syrup that has apparently doubled in a few months.

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Toronto realtor Yossi Kaplan shared a price comparison via Twitter and called out Loblaws and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for the absurd increase.

Kaplan showed two photos of the maple syrup to show a price increase of 114 per cent in seven months—from $6.99 in May 2022 to $14.99 in Jan 2023.

"I beg your pardon @LoblawsON @JustinTrudeau," Kaplan wrote in the tweet.

These tweets are just a few of the many surprises that residents are getting when they go grocery shopping as prices continue to leave shoppers dumbfounded and more flustered day by day.

In a recent article at The Chronicle Herald, Dr. Sylvain Charlebois, a senior director at the Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Halifax's Dalhousie University, reported that while grocery theft "has always been a major problem" in the food industry, it is now "worse than before" after price hikes due to inflation.

RELATED from Yahoo Finance Canada: Lower gas prices pull inflation back to 6.3%

"Most thefts are in-store, off-the-shelf, of only a few products at most, and usually thefts by people driven by desperation, negligence, or a mixture of both," he wrote.

Toronto food banks are also being stretched thin while trying to keep up with inflation-driven demand.

According to a recent report by Second Harvest, a national food rescue organization, food banks and other programs serving vulnerable Canadians are expected to serve 60 per cent more people per month in 2023 than last year.

Jagmeet Singh calls out "greedy CEOs" at Loblaws and Sobeys

Following these several similar incidents on Twitter, Federal NDP leader Jagmeet Singh issued a public rebuke on Wednesday of wealthy grocery oligarchs driving up the cost of food in Canada.

In his tweet, he called out the "greedy CEOs" for taking advantage of inflation to "line their pockets".

He blamed the Liberals and Conservatives for allowing grocery stores to do so and said that "it's wrong and unjust".

In a follow-up tweet, he also said that he won't stop fighting back.

"In December, our investigation into your food prices began. This year, New Democrats will carrying on that fight. Unlike the Establishment parties, we're fighting to lower your prices. And we won't give up," the tweet read.

Despite inflation rates easing, food prices keep rising

In its latest consumer price index released Tuesday, Statistics Canada said the country's annual inflation rate slowed to 6.3 per cent in December. And yet, grocery prices are up 11 per cent in December on an annual basis.