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Sep 26, 2024 · The CFIA takes food fraud seriously and its oversight activities centre around 3 themes: prevent, detect and deter. This report summarizes the work done under each of these themes and covers the Government of Canada's 2022 to 2023 fiscal year, which was from April 1, 2022 to March 31, 2023.
- Government of Canada continues to tackle food fraud
Under the Food Policy for Canada, launched in June 2019, the...
- Government of Canada prevents more than 100,000 kg of ...
When potential food fraud was discovered, the CFIA took...
- Government of Canada continues to tackle food fraud
- News release
- Quotes
- Quick facts
Canadian laws prohibit the misrepresentation of food.
May 12, 2022 – Ottawa, Ontario
Canadian laws prohibit the misrepresentation of food. Mislabelling, adulteration and substitution of food are forms of misrepresentation and may constitute food fraud. To this end, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is helping ensure food is properly labelled and safe to consume, and that businesses can compete fairly in the Canadian marketplace.
The CFIA's newly published Food Fraud Annual Report: 2020 to 2021 outlines the results of its enhanced surveillance activities to test the authenticity of 5 foods: honey, fish, olive oil, other expensive oils (such as, sesame seed oil, grapeseed oil, coconut oil and others), and spices. Overall, CFIA's testing showed 4 of the 5 commodities had satisfactory results above 87% while expensive oils (other than olive oil) had 66% satisfactory results. These 5 foods were selected as they are commonly reported as products likely to be misrepresented.
"Consumers expect food labels to be truthful and accurate. Through the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and Health Canada our government is working closely to tackle food fraud so consumers can trust that food is accurately represented and safe."
– The Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Health
"Food fraud is a tactic that deceives consumers and is unfair to our agriculture and agri-food producers. Our government takes this situation seriously and is working to ensure that we maintain a fair competitive environment for the benefit of the general public and the vast majority of entrepreneurs who comply with regulatory requirements."
– The Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food
"Retailers understand the importance of consumers having trust in the food they purchase and knowing it is exactly what they pay for. That is why grocery retailers continue to invest in fraud prevention programs to further strengthen measures, and work closely with CFIA, suppliers, manufacturers and producers. This study highlights the ongoing need for all partners along the food supply chain to work together to ensure food integrity."
– Jason McLinton, Vice President, Grocery Division and Regulatory Affairs, Retail Council of Canada
•In 2020 to 2021, the CFIA tested a total of 525 samples for authenticity. Its enhanced targeted sampling yielded the following satisfactory results:
•88.5% honey
•91.2% fish
•87.8% olive oil
•66.2% other expensive oils (such as, sesame seed oil, grapeseed oil, coconut oil, almond oil and others)
•92.9% spices
- Canadian Food Inspection Agency
Mar 2, 2023 · When potential food fraud was discovered, the CFIA took action, preventing more than 100,000 kg of misrepresented food from being sold in Canada. These actions include destroying, relabelling or removing products from Canada.
- Canadian Food Inspection Agency
Food fraud may occur when food is misrepresented, like labelling farmed salmon as wild, or claiming a product is organic when it hasn't been certified. Canada is recognized for having one of the safest food systems and is taking measures to tackle food fraud.
Under the Food Policy for Canada, launched in June 2019, the Government of Canada invested $24.4 million over 5 years to the CFIA to crack down on food fraud in order to protect consumers from deception and companies from unfair competition.
The CFIA protects consumers from food fraud by: conducting inspections at different levels of the food trade, including domestic manufacturers and importers. analyzing food samples and verifying that the composition complies with regulations. identifying and targeting areas of highest risk.
Most Canadians indicated they were likely to encounter food fraud with products imported from other countries to Canada, while food products made in Canada were least likely to be seen as misrepresented. Canadians were confident in the ability of the Government of Canada to manage food fraud.
