Taking Action on "Made in Canada" Food Labelling 

Like most parents, nothing matters more to me than protecting the health of my family. So when I heard Prime Minister Harper was strengthening the requirements to label a food as "Made in Canada" or "Product of Canada", I was thrilled.

Under the new rules, food products labelled "Made in Canada" will no longer be allowed to use a substantial amount of foreign ingredients.

Over the past few months, many constituents have written after watching a CBC program that showed many products in grocery stores are labelled "Made in Canada" even though the food was grown elsewhere.

That's because, under the old rules, it's legal to call a product "Made in Canada" if 51 per cent of production costs were incurred here and the final transformation was made in Canada.

For example, a can of apple juice could have a 'Made in Canada' label on it and be made from apples grown in China. Or a bar of chocolate might say 'Product of Canada' with cocoa beans from the Ivory Coast.

As a champion of the local food movement, I also appreciate farmers'

concerns on this matter. Farmers understand that to many consumers, "Made in Canada" and "Product of Canada" imply that the food is grown in this country.

(That's why I also encourage farmers to consider niche or specialty products that are obviously local in origin.) I also believe it is important for consumers to have confidence when they pick up a product labelled "Made in Canada" that it was actually produced in Canada under some of the toughest and safest health restrictions in the world.

In the final analysis, it is obvious these changes to food labelling are good for both consumers and local farmers. There remains more to be done, but this is a big step in the right direction.