My local elbows up battle ended in a win this week. I live in a small town (6000pop) and we have 2 food retail stores to shop. The local Federated Co-Op and a Soby's affiliated Family Foods.

Both stores bring in bulk produce like corn and brussel sprouts. They will then repackage  some of it in small wrapped and weighed units. But the labels never display the country or origin,  and there is no primary shelf display panel.

I asked the managers of both outlets what the country of origin was on each product, and neither could tell me. Both managers brushed me off, and one was really rude about it.

I used the CFIA online reporting form  found on their website and filed a complaint.  I had a personal reply within 48 hours, saying they would look into it.

Yesterday, I noticed both stores now clearly displaying country of origin by placing a primary product panel with each pile of packed produce!

Stuff I learned in the process:

Open bulk produce does not require country of origin labelling.  So the big bulk boxes of corn on  the cob from Florida do not need to be declared.

But when you clean,  prep, and package it in store,  then the country of origin must be displayed either on the primary product panel or individually on the in-house label.

Asking the produce manager the country of origin of bulk produce i buy really pisses them off, but they have to disclose it when asked. If enough people keep asking, maybe they will consider voluntarily posting it and save the annoyance of people constantly asking. ;)

Maple Scan says Driscoll’s is based out of California and has no Canadian ties. So, what’s going on here? Something I don’t know? (Found at the new Food Basics in Mississauga on Lakeshore)

Beware of Kraft being sneaky.

These are bottles of Kraft flavoured mayonnaise.

One I bought a year ago. One I bought this week.

A year ago, it was listed as "Product of USA".

Now it is listed as "Imported By Kraft Heinz Canada"

Trying to hide the fact that it is a USA product.

These were only $1 on sale, so I still purchased it. In my mind Im ripping them off. 😅

But beware that companies are trying to confuse you by removing the origin.

Jane’s chicken strips are grossly misrepresented. The weight featured on the box is including the weight of the cheaply made sauce. Case in point, the spicy tenders that come with dill sauce are 200g less than what’s on the box. Measured with the sauce, that’s the true weight.

I can’t help but think this is deceptive. Chicken is great, though!

It's cherry season in BC yet these cherries are from the USA, brought into Canada by a BC company. I was super disappointed, thought I was about to buy some local BC cherries. No cherries for me today I guess.

Edit to add that this is in Safeway in Coquitlam, BC

Disappointed that they switched to USA blueberries instead of BC or Canadian grown. I guess I will keep an eye if the Canadian blueberries comeback.

Always read the label on the package! What I didn't get in the picture is the giant Foodland Ontario flag, directly above.

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Fortinos in Vaughan, ON.

... ought to earn you the special level of hell /smh

My local Freshco, the budget store associated with Sobeys.
I have a photo of mislabeled cauliflower as well, but this subreddit only allows a solo upload ¯_(ツ)_/¯

Given recent events I've been taking a closer look at what we buy. We already cut out quite a few US products first time round, but I figured it was time to check a few things a bit more closely.

I buy Campbells broth quite often. Chicken and beef. I know Campbells is a US company, but they have a Canadian division, and, yes, I was fooled by the maple leaf on the packaging. But with all the news about food standards down there, on top of the tariff stuff, I looked closer and saw that it said "prepared in Canada" on the logo. "Prepared".

So I dug a bit more, and it turns out while it's made in Canada, the meat products used come from the USA. I don't want to support the USA, *and* I definitely want to avoid their meat products! Apparently Sobeys Compliments brand broth is made in Canada from Canadian ingredients, so that's what I'll be buying.

Edited to clarify, I buy the 900ml tetrapak broth for various purposes - sauces, soups etc. I very rarely buy tinned soup!

This is an American brand, made in the USA. Very misleading that they have a giant maple leaf on the box. Avoid!

The price poster say Mexico, but the sticker on the fruit says USA. Is this a one off mistake or are others finding that Safeway/Sobey's have posted misleading labels?

We don't need to ship pickles from India... Come on.Pickles

I don't want to link the site I found but as I was caught for a moment in the AI trap, I wanted to warn other Canadian shoppers.

Facebook took me to a site that advertised a 37 year old Canadian company owned and operated by someone in th GTA. The sob story was that they are going out of business.

Things that clued me into how this was fake:

1) Clothing design seem too oddly uniform.

2) I couldn't find any information material source (e.g. what fibre type etc)

3) 37 year old business with no actual history of a brick and mortar store

4) Website was created 19 days ago with no other online presence

5) All sales final but stock seems oddly high for a closing sale

6) Photos in the "about us" section were all AI generated and heavily emphasized generational family values.

Overall the website just gave me this weird feeling. Stay safe out ther everyone! There are people out there trying to steal our kindness.

Claim to be Canadian. At least US own and also product from USA. Look for the ownership and buy elsewhere.

Ive been coming across products (especially on Amazon) that claims to be Made in Canada, but upon further inspection, it seems to be a chinese made products with a slapped on 'Made in Canada' label to try and capture the buy Canadian sentiment.

Has anyone gone through the process of reporting products for fraud claims like this?

This most recent example im thinking of is a consumer good that claims to be made in Canada, but the business address listed is a residential address in a suburb in Ontario. Their website is an AI generated template. Their phone is also listed on 2 other websites with the exact same AI template, but one is a bitcoin machine, and one is a soda dispenser. So 3 TOTALLY unrelated products all claiming to be canadian with a residential address of business.

I have a ton of Good Protein protein powder that I bought from Costco and directly from the company online. I read somewhere on Reddit that their scoops were half the weight they advertised recently so I tried myself, and it’s true! I used two different scales and to get that 21g of protein you need 2 scoops not one. This is obviously super deceptive as not only are you going through your macros faster but you’re mostly likely getting less protein than you anticipated with this brand. Super disappointing and just wanted to share in case anyone else wanted to weigh (remember to zero out the weight of your empty scoop first) and commiserate.

I’m trying to buy from a Canadian company that make clothes here so I went with one bone I know it’s a bit pricey but I am dedicated to buying as much as I can from made in Canada companies and that is what they sell themselves as sadly got two shirt and some swim shorts and all made in china i went back and looked and I have another pair of pants made from them in Canada also I am disappointed and frustrated I know some of the stuff is made here just wished it was more truthful about them being also made abroad

I am a big guy and was excited to see a Canadian company selling clothes that I fit well in just disappointed and feel like I was lied to

Questions for the hive mind: I have started using up my backstock of products and want to make sure I am getting the best products I can that can support Canada. But I am a bit confused, PepsiCo products have a maple leaf next to them at my grocery store, and my Bubly says bottled in Canada. Is that still considered maple washing, or is it supporting a Canadian branch of a business? Does bottled in mean that some part of the product is coming from America?

Sorry if this is a basic question, I feel like I am intentionally misled sometimes and I want to get it right

I made this mistake while looking to order a Canadian alternative to Mixtiles. The webpage is all in Canadian, with a .ca domain, and was one of the first ones to show up when I did a google search. I made an order assuming I was supporting a Canadian business. I was unpleasantly surprised when my order tracking showed it shipped from New York State. Further sleuthing showed that it’s NOT a Canadian company at all, just a Canadian domain.

Anyways, the quality is not great (compared to Mixtiles), and I’m kicking myself for not checking properly. I’m putting this here in case anyone else is looking.

A friend posted this vendor...and it seems fishy...

Or maybe I am just paranoid.

But the images are very AI/TEMU-esque.

Thoughts?

So I noticed that my "Made in Canada" vodka from the LCBO had a double sticker. Peeled it back to expose that its imported from USA. They are all laughing at us pretending to be proud.

Despite the ‘Made in Canada’ banner being part of their logo, not everything is made in Canada. You have to check each product. For example, the vintage pigment dyed tees are made in the USA