Product of ______

For many different reasons, more people are choosing to buy Canadian food products. Some do it because food that has traveled less retains more flavour, some do it because safety regulations in Canada are different from other countries, some do it to support Canadian food growers and others do it to cut down on the environmental impact of food transport. There are lots of reasons to seek out the "Product of Canada" label in the grocery store.

Recently, Wendy Mesley of CBC's Marketplace did some research into "Product of Canada" food labeling. Unhappily, she found that such labels do not guarantee the food is from our country (I know!). The only legal obligation of this claim is that 51% percent of the food's production costs are spent in Canada - in some cases, that is covered by packaging alone. Mesley found that President's Choice minced garlic (labeled "Product of Canada") is grown in Mexico or California, and the milk ingredients in No Name ice cream are imported from New Zealand, Europe or the U.S. Fish does not follow the 51% rule. Instead, the "country of origin" claimed by fish products is simply wherever the product has undergone its "last substantial transformation". Highliner's Canadian labeled fish is shipped frozen from Vietnam, Indonesia, Russia and China and battered in Canada.















But Captain Highliner looks so trustworthy!

The moral of this story?
"The more processed a food is, the more obscure its origins become, because of the 51% rule. If you buy fresh vegetables and meats instead of TV dinners you'll have an easier time figuring out where it all came from."