Have you seen a lot of Maple Leaf stickers and signs in your grocery store lately? Maybe even next to products you know are sold by American companies that are "prepared in Canada"? Wondering what that actually means? 

There are any number of designations that can be placed on food products, but only a couple of them are specific and actually mean a food item was what we would think of as truly "made" or "produced" in Canada. In a minisode of Elbows Up, Laura quizzes Jordan, who has been studying the government guidelines, about just what all these claims mean and how companies can use them to 'Maplewash' your grocery shopping.

For reference:

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency's guidelines around identifying the origin of food products: https://inspection.canada.ca/en/food-labels/labelling/industry/origin-claims#s1c5

The Department of Canadian Heritage guidelines around the use of the official Canadian Maple Leaf on commercial products: https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/services/commercial-use-symbols-canada.html

The CFIA's Frequently Asked Questions around product origin claims and labelling: https://inspection.canada.ca/en/food-labels/labelling/industry/origin-claims/frequently-asked-questions

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