By Karin Yeske

Brit Foods owner waits clarification from CFIA

Jan 29, 2014 | 11:23 AM

The owner of a British specialty shop in Saskatoon says he is beyond mad with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA).

Last week, Tony Badger was forced by the CFIA to remove products like Irn-Bru, Marmite and Ovaltine from his store shelves. In October, one of his regular shipments was detained in Montreal because it contained some offending products.

“Over the years that we have been importing directly ourselves, we have had inspections in the past by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. It is not too uncommon. Never had an issue with Irn-Bru, Marmite, Lucozade, Ovaltine in the past. Never until last year,” Badger said on John Gormley Live Wednesday.

The objection from the CFIA is that Irn-Bru contains Ponceau 4R which is a food colouring that is not approved in Canada. Marmite and Ovaltine have been enriched with vitamins and minerals, which is not allowed in Canada.

With Marmite for example, the Canadian-approved variety comes without the vitamins and minerals and is sold in a small jar. Badger sells larger jars of the British version which contains the vitamins and minerals.

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“There is no like. You love it (Marmite) or you hate it and that's a small jar. You go through that in a matter of days. What we sell are jars four times that size and we sell a lot of them,” he said, adding the issues go far beyond Marmite.

Badger said the fear that the products he has been selling for years may be illegal in Canada will affect more than 200 British shops across the country.

“Voluntarily, shop owners have contacted me by email and by phone. They are not nervous at this point. They are very scared because they are selling these products that are sold in Britain, as are we. There are also roughly 25 supermarkets in British Columbia that we have verified as recently as (Tuesday) that have the products on the shelves that we do.”

The CFIA released a statement Saturday that stated Irn-Bru and Marmite are not banned for sale in Canada but that Badger’s shipment was detained because it contained meat products and was not accompanied by the proper documents.

“The CFIA determined that the rejected shipment also included other products, including Irn-Bru (drink) and Marmite (a yeast-based spread). Imported products, including Irn Bru and Marmite, that meet Canadian requirements under Canada's Food and Drug Regulations are and will continue to be available for sale in Canada,” the statement reads.

“The CFIA will work with the food seller to ensure they are accessing the correct products, destined for Canadian markets.”

Badger said all he is asking for is fair and equitable treatment from the CFIA. He feels discriminated against because he is the only shop in Canada that is being targeted.

“No person shall sell a food to which a vitamin, nutrient or mineral has been added. What it should read is 'not Brit Foods. Everyone else in Canada can but not Brit Foods,'” Badger said, reading from the CFIA regulations.

Badger said he hasn’t been speaking publicly the past couple days because a CFIA agent visited his shop on Saturday. Badger did not want to discuss what the agent said because he is waiting to receive confirmation of it in writing. He said he doesn’t trust the CFIA and he feels as though they are not respecting him.

“I've had no contact from them. They have my phone number. They have my email. They have my cellphone number. There has been no attempt to contact me or reach out to me since (their media release). You can hear I'm angry? It's well beyond that at this point. Now why are the media reporting that it is OK that we sell it? We have had no notification of that,” he said.

“I'm asking that they prove what they say. There has to be some accountability here.”

news@panow.com

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