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The food labelling guidelines have changed for foods produced after December the 31st 2008, stringent new rules as to what can be labelled a product of Canada. I believe it is new social trends (the Buy Local and the 100 mile diet phenomenons) that have put this in motion and it is exactly what the Canadian public has been asking for. Under previous guidelines, which was created in the 1980's, it states that if a company incurs more than 51% of its production costs in Canada and the goods were transformed here, it can have a Product of Canada label. What does that mean? It means the product doesn't have to contain any domestic goods at all. So, for example, you can have a can of coconut milk with a Product of Canada label on it because the coconuts were transformed in Canada. CBC's Marketplace did a whole piece on the subject in October 2007. You can watch it here or click below:

In Stephen Harper's press conference on May 21st 2008 he announced that changes would be made. The new guideline, under the Conservative government's proposed Food and Consumer Safety Action Plan, will change both the ‘Product of Canada' and ‘Made in Canada' guidelines. This is how:

Product of Canada will now be redefined to include a 98 per cent domestic product content as well as all processing and labour are done here as well. So then ‘Product of Canada' will mean that consumers can be confident that their food is grown and made here, supporting Canadian farmers and jobs.

Made in Canada is defined as having the last major transformation done in Canada. Any product that has more than 2 per cent foreign content will have the Made in Canada label but, it will have to also have the stipulation of either: "...from domestic and imported ingredients" or "...from imported ingredients." So to elaborate my peanut butter brand that says Product of Canada will be, under the new guideline, Made in Canada from imported ingredients, which can include peanuts from China, Nigeria, the United States and India.

If you are nutty for peanuts, be very excited, because we have peanut growers in Ontario! I talked with Nancy Racz of Kernel Peanuts Limited, who confirmed she grows Valencia peanuts that are transformed, on site, into tantalizing peanut treats. For a limited time Kernel Peanuts Limited is offering the Buy Canadian First readers a fantastic promotion: Buy any three products and get 20% off, visit their shop today!

Just so you know, this particular labelling is voluntary and only applies if a company wishes to state they have a Canadian product. It is likely we will not see very many examples of the new labelling out on the shelves yet, as the Canadian Food Inspection Agency excludes the products that were produced before December 31st, 2008 (when the new guidelines took effect). If you are uncertain about where your food is coming from, contact the 1-800 number on the product, most companies are happy to answer all your questions.

Finally most unprocessed agricultural commodities fall under a country of origin labelling, that is why, when shopping at the supermarket, it's shown the bananas come from Mexico. Other products that fall in this category are meat, fruit, vegetables, dairy, eggs and honey, to name a few.

How do we feel about this at Buy Canadian First? Well obviously we would like to see more wholly Canadian-made products and their Product of Canada labels on store shelves, but we must also concede that with the Made in Canada goods made from foreign ingredients, the companies who have decided to participate with the new guidelines are offering full disclosure about the origin of the ingredients. That's something. AND, these transformation plants employ thousands of Canadians. This being said, the more information that is given to the consumers, the better equipped they are to make an educated decision about which product is worthy of their hard earned money.

So the next time you go to the supermarket, as much as possible, try to buy products that are labelled Made in Canada or choose produce that was grown in Canada or specifically, your province. If nothing appeals to you, widen your radius to include the US, then Mexico (there is a growing Buy North American movement happening too... but that's a different post ;-)