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The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has provided new details to CBC News about the $10,000 fine it imposed on Loblaw-owned Superstore last month for promoting imported food as Canadian-made.
Federal food regulators said the mislabeled product was President’s Choice Broccoli Slaw, a brand owned by Loblaw Co., a version of coleslaw made with shredded broccoli.
According to the CFIA, a Toronto superstore advertised a bag of salad with a “maple leaf advertising decal” and a “Made in Canada” label on the store’s shelf tags, even though the package said “Made in the United States.”
For a food to be labeled as “made in Canada,” it must be wholly or substantially manufactured in Canada. According to CFIA.
Despite complaints from multiple customers, no major grocery chain was fined for advertising imported products as Canadian-made. This process became known as maple washing.
Grocery stores are using Canadian brands in their stores to promote homegrown products, capitalizing on the Buy Canada movement, which gained momentum early last year after U.S. President Donald Trump’s comments about tariff battles and Canada becoming the 51st state.
But both C.F.I.A. and CBC News have uncovered numerous instances in which major grocery stores advertised imported food products as containing Canadian ingredients, a practice that has come to be known as “maple washing.”
shortly thereafter CBC investigation Last summer, Some shoppers expressed outrage The CFIA did not impose fines on grocery stores that violated the rules.
Federal regulations require food labels and in-store signage to: Must be accurate and not misleading.
Last week, CBC News asked the CFIA why Loblaw’s rival Sobeys was not fined despite the agency’s investigation into a misrepresentation case last April that took four months to resolve.
In that case, a Sobeys-owned Safeway store in suburban Edmonton promoted its own brand Compliments avocado oil with in-store signage that included a red maple leaf and the words “Made in Canada.” However, the small print on the bottle indicated that the product was imported.
On Wednesday, the CFIA indicated that Sobeys could still be fined in this case. The agency said in an email that the grocer has corrected the problem, but “a review is underway to determine whether further action is appropriate.”
What CFIA has learned The oil was mislabeled after Sheila Young, who lives in suburban Edmonton, complained to the agency about the product.
She said she was confused why authorities took so long to decide whether to impose a fine.
“Ten months seems too long to reach a conclusion, so I’m disappointed,” Young said. “I’d like to know why they’re having trouble with this file.”
Is a $10,000 fine high enough?
After reporting, Superstore fine of $10,000 Last week, CBC News heard from multiple shoppers who complained that the fines at Loblaw, Canada’s largest grocer, were too low.
on wednesday, Rob Lowe posted Retail revenue for the quarter was $16.38 billion. a”Ten thousand is not a big deal to them. It’s not going to be a huge financial hit,” said shopper Brenda Nichols from Hamilton, Ont. She says she is actively involved in the Buy Canadian movement.
He suggested Canadians should impose fines starting at $100,000 on large grocery stores caught promoting foreign products.
“Food testing agencies need to send a very strong message to ensure this type of behavior is not repeated,” Nichols said.
However, imposing six-figure fines would require changes to the rules. the current, CFIA can only impose penalties Up to $15,000 per violation.
Loblaw and Sobeys each told CBC News that they aim to provide accurate country-of-origin labeling, but that the task is difficult when dealing with large amounts of inventory.