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When consumers purchase a “Product of Canada” in the grocery store, they may not be getting a truly Canadian grown or produced item. Grant Robertson, Ontario co-ordinator of the National Farmers Union (NFU), wants that to change.

Canadians want clear rules in labelling, so they know that food in their local grocery store which is labelled “Product of Canada” is actually produced in Canada by Canadian farmers, said Robertson.

In an April 8 presentation to the House of Commons agriculture committee in Ottawa, Robertson said the current laws and regulations regarding food labelling in Canada are ambiguous at best, and deceptive at worst.

Currently, under CFIA guidelines, he said, imported food products can be repackaged and labelled as “Product of Canada” if the cost of labour and/or additional ingredients represents 51 per cent of its cost of production.

“If you want to get serious about having clear labelling that means something for consumers, there are two routes,” he said.

“If you go for an optional label, then you need to enforce our food safety, environmental, labour and other standards at the border before a product is allowed in. Without that enforcement, it’s meaningless.

“The other route is to make it mandatory that the origin of the foodstuffs be on the package label. Only food that is produced by Canadian farmers should be allowed to be called ‘Product of Canada’,” Robertson added.

The NFU has led the charge on getting labelling rules changed so that “Product of Canada” labels actually apply to Canadian-grown or raised farm products.

“It is ironic that fruits and vegetables grown and processed in Canada, for sale in Canada, are among the items on store shelves which are potentially hardest to identify as Canadian,” stated Robertson.

“This is not in spite of, but rather because of, the current CFIA labelling guidelines.”

The CFIA Labelling Guide for Processed Fruits and Vegetables clearly states that “indicating ‘Product of Canada’ is optional for the purposes of marketing in Canada and export” for Canadian grown and processed fruits and vegetables.

Meanwhile, food products which may consist almost entirely of imported ingredients are required to carry a “Product of Canada’ label if they meet specific guidelines.

Robertson was accompanied at the Agriculture Committee hearing by Nigel Smith, NFU Youth president.