Sobeys, Loblaw under fire for maple washing, as Sobeys ditches maple leaf symbol in stores | CBC News

"The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) slapped two Loblaw-owned stores in January with $10,000 fines each for maple washing, and one month later, two other Loblaw-owned stores got formal warnings for the same violation, CBC News has learned."

"The federal food regulator told CBC it has received multiple complaints about the grocer and maple washing and has wrapped up an investigation into advertising practices overseen by Sobeys' head office. The probe resulted in no fines because "corrective actions" were taken, the CFIA said in an email."

"Meanwhile, Sobeys appears to have phased out the iconic red maple leaf symbol it introduced last year to highlight Canadian products in stores. Over the past two weeks, CBC visited nine Sobeys and Sobeys-owned Safeway locations in Halifax, Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver. We found the once-ubiquitous symbol had all but disappeared, leaving products such as Tim Hortons coffee and Real Dairy ice cream with no store marker to flag their Canadian connection."

"Empire told The Canadian Press in late March that it was starting to remove some Canadian signage because shoppers are capable of figuring out where their food comes from. Consumer advocate Jay Jackson suggests the CFIA investigation which was already underway in March may have motivated the grocer to ditch the symbol."

CFIA has increased enforcement against maple washing, where imported products are promoted as homegrown. In January, CFIA fined two Loblaw-owned stores $10,000 each for maple washing. One month later, CFIA issued formal warnings to two additional Loblaw-owned stores for the same violation. CFIA also received multiple complaints about Sobeys and completed an investigation into advertising practices managed by Sobeys’ head office. No fines were issued after corrective actions were taken. Sobeys has also reduced visible Canadian branding by phasing out the red maple leaf symbol used to mark Canadian products on shelf tags. Visits to multiple Sobeys and Safeway locations found the symbol largely absent, including on products previously marked as Canadian-linked.

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