Dozens of supermarkets in Belgium and Sweden have been hit by a suspected cyber-attack affecting its fridges and freezers.

Around 40 Delhaize supermarkets and 15 Carrefour shops were affected in Belgium, while several ICA and Coop retailers in Sweden were hit. Thirteen SuperValu retailers have also been impacted in Ireland.

Thousands of euros value of meals has had to be thrown away, according to native media reports, with one ICA retailer in Sweden saying temperatures for its freezers had been set to 50 C (122F).

It is not clear who is behind the attack, which follows a comparable incident last month that affected a whole lot of French supermarkets.

Delhaize, one of Belgium’s greatest grocery store chains, instructed Belgian media a “computer incident” had occurred in a single day at 40 retailers.

Carrefour, a French-owned grocery store, said it was “currently analysing” the incident at 15 of its Belgian shops.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for ICA in Sweden confirmed the incident had affected a “small number of ICA stores operating outside ICA’s central network”.

“ICA is currently supporting the affected stores in managing the situation,” they said.

One of the IVA branches situated in Sjöbo, southern Sweden, wrote on social media: “Our refrigerators and freezers have been hacked overnight and they have set the temperature to 50 degrees.”

The retailer was closed earlier but has now reopened to prospects.

Seven out of the 800 Coop shops in Sweden are also affected but the “situation is currently contained and under control”, the firm instructed the BBC.