CFIA investigating cases of maple washing at Canadian retailers
Posted May 26, 2026 01:05:51 PM.
Last Updated May 26, 2026 01:05:55 PM.
It’s a term many not by aware of “maple washing”.
The term refers to a phenomenon that has revealed itself amid the ongoing trade war with the United States and the subsequent “Buy Canadian” movement
“Maple Washing” is the practice of labeling a product to appear it’s made in Canada when it may have been produced elsewhere.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has been investigating claims of “maple washing” and has laid fines against five food retailers totaling $47,000.
Sylvain Charlesbois, The Food Professor; Visiting Scholar, food distribution and policy, McGill University was a guest on The Mike Farwell Show where he explained that if the fines seem low, for multi-million-dollar companies, there might be a reason why.
“I’m not sure it’s in the best interest of any regulators to fine retailers hundreds of thousands of dollars. You just want to send a clear message that these practices aren’t acceptable at all.”
Four of the entities were fined $10,000 and one was fined $7,000.
Charlesbois said for the consumer, it’s not always easy to tell if a product is genuinely Canadian or not.
“Habitant Pea Soup is a good example of a product that actually had a maple leaf on the can, but it was actually fully produced in the U.S. 100 per cent.”
Charlesbois explained that the product was created in Canada, but the company was sold to a U.S. company, and they just kept the maple leaf on the can.
That’s a practice the CFIA is working to ban.
The CFIA is continuing to track and investigate claims of “maple washing” and are encouraging consumers and industry folks to report claims to CFIA through its online reporting portal.
The CFIA has also provided a quick reference guide to help learn how to identify a products country of origin.
