PM announces changes to Canadian food label laws
Updated Wed. May. 21 2008 8:53 PM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
Prime Minister Stephen Harper has announced tough new guidelines for the "Made in Canada" label on food, but Liberals have dismissed the changes as a "photo-op."
Ottawa is introducing new laws so that food products processed in Canada, but made with foreign ingredients, will have to say so on the label, Harper told reporters in Vineland, Ont.
"The truth is, foods marked 'Product of Canada' or 'Made in Canada' actually may not be very Canadian at all," he said. "Our new guidelines are designed to redefine Canadian food content labels to better reflect the true origins of products in today's global marketplace"
Under current laws, Harper said, it's legal to call a product "Made in Canada" if 51 per cent of production costs were incurred here and the final transformation of the product was in Canada.
The current laws are largely unchanged since the 1980s -- before the rapid globalization of food production changed the origin of many of the products in grocery stores.
"A bottle of apple juice could have a 'made in Canada' label in it and be made from apples grown in China. A bar of chocolate might say 'product of Canada,' but the cocoa beans could come from the Ivory Coast,'' Harper said.
Liberal agriculture critic Wayne Easter said his party has been pushing for changes for the past three years, after "broad consultations" with farmers.
"We heard their calls and began pursuing the needed changes. The Prime Minister's photo-op only proves that he's been hearing what the Liberal Caucus and Canadian farmers have been demanding ever since," Easter said in a press release.
Under the new rules, a "Product of Canada" label will mean that virtually all of the contents are Canadian in origin.
A consumer advocate says the changes are long overdue.
"We are looking at two different reasons for labelling. One is to define some economic benefit to Canada. The other is to let the consumer know where items in that can or product came from," Mel Fruitman, the vice president of the Consumers' Association of Canada, told CTV Newsnet.
"It is that latter concern that has been bothering us for the past few years as we are seeing more and more imported products -- and unfortunately, more and more tainted products."
Fruitman said he wants to see better regulation of products -- and more severe penalties for those who disobey rules meant to protect consumers. He added that Ottawa needs to have more inspectors to make sure the new regulations are followed.
Harper said the new labels would reflect whether some of the ingredients in a Canadian-made product come from another country.
He said the announcement would be a boon for Canadian farmers because the country's consumers want homegrown products.
Ottawa will be holding consultations with Canadians and the food industry before the final label guidelines are completed.
