CASHIN' IN ON CORONAVIRUS?: Canadian Tire apologizes for selling cheap surgical masks labelled as N95-certified masks
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Canadians have been clamouring to get their hands on any type of mask in a desperate attempt to protect themselves against the deadly coronavirus spreading across the globe. Demand for masks has been outpacing supply as many stores have sold out.
On Friday, Canadian Tire was accused of trying to make a quick buck by selling cheap surgical masks at a Toronto store that were labelled as the much higher quality N95 masks.
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CASHIN' IN ON CORONAVIRUS?: Canadian Tire apologizes for selling cheap surgical masks labelled as N95-certified masks Back to video
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“These are clearly not N95 masks, but surgical masks,” Twitter user Derrick Kwan wrote, accompanied by images of the mislabeled display. “It’s not right to prey on public confusion and panic to make money. This was at the Leslie and Sheppard location. Please correct this at all your stores ASAP.”
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In the images, the display shows a 10 pack of surgical masks, labelled as N95 masks, being sold for $19.99 with only four packs allowed per customer.
Unlike regular surgical masks, N95 masks are much higher quality in terms of what they are able to filter out. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention claims NIOSH-approved N95 respirators can filter out at least 95% of airborne particles.
“Canadian Tire takes the health and safety of our customers very seriously,” a Canadian Tire representative told The Toronto Sun in an emailed statement. “Upon learning that the vendor incorrectly labelled the masks as N95 certified, we immediately pulled this product from our stores and we apologize for the labelling error.”
“All masks with SKU # 899-4998 can be returned to any of our stores for a full refund,” the statement read.
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Social media users didn’t appear to respond well to the original tweet.
“Serious violation to the Act – counterfeit product/false labelling for distributors and retailers. May cause serious harm to the public,” one peeved user wrote.
“Really shady tactic and wording as a whole ‘N95 Quality Guaranteed’…. in short, f— you Canadian Tire,” another user added.
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