Does Food Lion Drug Test in 2025?

If you are considering employment with the grocery chain giant, Food Lion, it’s possible you might be asking yourself, does Food Lion drug test? Whether you consider yourself a habitual user, a recreational user, or a non-user, you might be considering this question because it adds to the complexity of the hiring process.

The best place to start is with the hiring process because after all, that’s where everything starts.

Does Food Lion Drug Test 2025: Starting From The Ground Up

If you live in the United States, you’ve no doubt likely seen or heard about Food Lion. They are an extremely popular grocery store chain in America, situated along the Mid and South Atlantic regions.

They occupy over 1100 locations and have been in business since the late 50s. Ralph Ketner and Brown Ketner are the two founders.

Like many chain retailers, the company offers a whole line of entry-level positions for people looking to get their feet wet in the workforce. The company offers a multitude of career opportunities for individuals looking to build a foundation with the company.

This complicates finding a position within the company a bit more, but Food Lion has everything laid out nicely on their online setup.

If you visit their official website, you’ll notice they offer an intuitive platform where people can go and search for openings. You can specify your search down to everything from the position you’re seeking to the area you are located. Once you’ve found a position that might suit your need, you can continue to the online application.

You’ll likely have to input your previous employment and name a few references, so be prepared ahead of time. You’ll be allotted all the time you need to fill out the application, but things will go so much smoother if you are prepared ahead of time. So, what positions might suit you?

Positions Available Within Food Lion

As was mentioned earlier, Food Lion offers a wide selection of entry-level positions for people looking to get their feet wet in the workforce. It’s probably even likely that you’ll be trained for several positions after spending a year or more with the company.

Popular food chains like Food Lion commonly cross-train individuals for various positions within the company.

Cashier – Believe it or not, cashiers in today’s world are becoming more of a commodity than anything else. With self-checkout and express lanes, more and more companies are doing away with physical cashiers. Food Lion is still one of the retailers that always maintain at least one or two cashiers.

They usually reserve them for selling tobacco products and such. As a cashier, you will be responsible for scanning and inputting codes into the system to ring up charges for customers. You’ll be required to handle everything from checks to credit cards and even cash.

Grocery Stocker – Someone has got to keep the aisles and shelves stocked with products and that’s what your job will be as a stocker. If you are put into the meat or departments, you might have to learn the lengthy and complicated system of rotating and properly labeling food products by date.

Other than that, everything is self-explanatory. Depending on the store, some retailers only choose to stock during certain times of the day or night.

Grocery Associate – As a grocery associate, you will be more of like a jack of all traders than anything else. Therefore, these positions are usually granted to individuals that have garnered some time with the company.

Grocery associates will find themselves tasked with everything from greeting and assisting customers to make sure food products are properly rotated and stocked.

Center Store Manager – The manager is considered the big dog of the store, as they’ll oversee pretty much everything from money drawer counts to the depositing of the day’s profits. Some managers might even be tasked with hiring, firing, and designing schedules.

It depends on the layout of the store and the specific employee’s experience. Not many people are brought in immediately and made managers.

These individuals are usually hired from within the store, older, and have built a reputation with the company. This is a position that one would work up to.

Hiring Ages

With stiffening and increasing hiring stipulations and workforce regulations, it is becoming increasingly harder and harder for corporations to bring on employees. Sure, these companies are always hiring, but the process has become much more lengthy and drawn out.

Candidates are now more heavily scrutinized during the hiring process than ever before. There are still plenty of entry-level positions available for teens looking to build a workforce profile.

However, you might find that there are limitations with some positions. For instance, Food Lion might only be interested in hiring someone over the age of 21 for an afternoon position.

This would legally grant the cashier the right to sell tobacco and alcohol. With that in mind, Food Lion has plenty of positions available for 16-year-olds and 18-year-old.

Food Lion will not consider candidates under the age of 16, regardless of if you have a work permit and a consenting adult’s signature. Most entry-level positions will be awarded hourly pay and minimal benefits. Part-time employees might not even receive any benefits at all.

Additional Food Lion Requirements

Age isn’t the only thing Food Lion considers when bringing on potential employees. It honestly comes down to the hiring manager, the branch location, and the type of position you are applying for.

As far as most entry-level positions go, you don’t have to worry about a drug test. Previous experience and certain work hours might be required as well.

Other, higher-up positions within the company will likely require drug testing. You can guarantee that if you are going to be driving a company vehicle or overseeing the security and well-being of the store, you will be tested.

With that being said, there aren’t many driving, or security positions open for new employees. Most entry-level employees will work within the store, assisting customers, and stocking products.

For these positions, you likely won’t even need previous experience. If you have experience operating a cash register, there is a good chance that Food Lion doesn’t work the same way your previous position or store did.

Can Food Lion Randomly Test Employees?

You had better believe Food Lion reserves the right to randomly test employees anytime they see fit. This is likely something you’ll agree to when you are first hired on with the company.

This is a requirement that not only protects the store but protects you as well as the other employees within the branch. With all that in mind, it is highly unlikely that you will be randomly tested without incident.

If you aren’t involved in a world-related accident or accused of suspicious behavior, you likely won’t be tested. Food Lion doesn’t usually just pick employees at random and test them, especially not on the lower part of the food chain. They are just happy when you show up for work and do what is required of you.

What Type Of Drug Test Will Be Required?

Although you likely won’t be required to undergo a pre-employment drug test, you can be randomly popped. This is highly unlikely unless you are involved in a company incident.

If you are, you will probably be required to take what’s known as a 5-panel urine test. These types of tests are without a doubt the most common in the workforce today.

The test usually requires the individual to deposit a urine sample in a plastic cup. The cup will then be sent off to a lab where it is tested by professionals.

Depending on the agency conducting the test, the urgency of the results, and the location of the center, you might get the results in 3 to 5 business days.

What Will A 5-Panel Urine Test Reveal?

A 5-panel urine test is rightly named so because it scans urine for 5 specific substances. Such tests can be customized to scan for specific substances, but most basic versions of the test scan for opiates, amphetamines, cocaine, cannabinoids, and phencyclidine. Some employers have even moved to include alcohol on these tests.

Opiates – These illegal substances are the ones that bind to the opioid receptors in the brain. They usually include opium, oxycontin, and heroin.

Amphetamines – Speed, methylphenidate, and eve en Ritalin can ping on an amphetamine-based test. These are illegal substances that interact with the central nervous system. Such medications are usually issued for ADD and ADHD-type conditions.

Cocaine – Cocaine, blow, snow, and crack are all forms of cocaine derived from the leaves of the South American coca plant. There was a time when this substance was used as a legal anesthetic for the eyes, nose, ears, and throat. Dentists used to use the substance to numb teeth before pulling.

Cannabinoids – Reefer, smoke, weed, hash. These are all forms of marijuana. Although the substance is viewed in a completely different light and legal now legal in many states, it is still deemed illegal and against many workforce policies.

Phencyclidine – Unfortunately, PCP is a bit on the harder scale of drug use. It is commonly referred to as angel dust, hog, wack, lovely, rocket fuel, and embalming fluid. The drug causes the user to depersonalize. It causes general numbness, lack of coordination, and slurred speech.

While under the influence of this drug many will feel invincible and strong. Similar to the effects of alcohol, this is a substance that can make one do crazy things.

Conclusion

Unfortunately, more and more employers are starting to require drug testing for entry-level positions. This probably has to do with the legalization of marijuana in a low of states.

Although alcohol has been legal for legal consumption in some situations, it is still looked down upon in the workforce. Marijuana is being looked at in a similar sense.

Does Food Lion Drug Test?