You actually can refreeze food. There may be some quality loss depending on what it is and how it was packaged.
If it was left at unsafe temperatures for long enough that would make it unsafe to eat, but if that happened it doesn't matter if you refreeze it not, apart from the extra time for it to defrost again.
TheEvilPenguin t1_ja9q59y wrote
Reply to Eli5 Why can't we refreeze thawed food? by Pef421-
You actually can refreeze food. There may be some quality loss depending on what it is and how it was packaged.
If it was left at unsafe temperatures for long enough that would make it unsafe to eat, but if that happened it doesn't matter if you refreeze it not, apart from the extra time for it to defrost again.