W5 exposes truths about Food in Canadian Grocery Stores

[hugh]

W-Five returns Oct. 27 on CTV with a disturbing exposé on the state of food ending up on Canadian dinner tables. In its 42nd season premiere, the show finds that some food being sold here - even products labeled as "Product of Canada" - are grown or processed in China.

W-FIVE's Alan Fryer reveals that everyday Canadian food staples can be processed or may contain ingredients sourced in China - and may be produced under poorly regulated or even stomach turning conditions. With eyewitness accounts and remarkable access inside Chinese fish farms and processing plants, W-FIVE gives viewers a first hand look at exactly what Canadians may unwittingly be putting into their shopping carts.

Random testing conducted by W-FIVE confirmed that one frozen fish product being sold at a popular Toronto Supermarket contained a cancer-causing chemical that is banned in Canada. Fryer and the W-FIVE team look for answers from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency - the government agency responsible for allowing these products into the country.

This Saturdays at 7 p.m. on CTV.

[mtlnorm]

Looking forward to this report.
If we have origin labelling on almost everything else, why not on food?

[sleemo]

I'm also looking forward to this report.

I recently watched a documentary shot in China where they were making pork buns. The ingredients for the filling ("pork") were newspapers softened with some pretty nasty chemicals, pork flavouring and color. Nice.

[os]

The golden rule: don't buy processed food and learn to cook. It's healthier (unless they import fresh skinless boneless turkey breasts or wild salmon from China).

[57]

I agree. On MarketPlace this week they were discussing the "Made in Canada" label on a lot of processed food, where the various ingredients came from all over the world. (rebroadcast on Sunday, CBC in Widescreen). Buy unprocessed food and you'll know where it comes from (labels) and as stated above, its healthier, tastier and often (but not always) less expensive.

Whenever I check out at the supermarket, I'm always amazed that people buy almost nothing but processed food in some sort of container. Lots of people don't make their own anything these days. Prepackaged salad, pudding, meals, etc. Yuck!

[sleemo]

One interesting thing I learned on W-Five was the law about packaging and the actual country of origin. Basically, if the the box (the packaging) costs more than the actual food inside and it was processed here, they are allowed to label it as "Product of Canada", even if the food inside all came from China.

[thefly]

Says something about the food if the box costs more then the contents....

[HT gearhead]

I read labels on everything canned and try and avoid chinese food products if at all possible but some times it seems almost unavoidable.

[Lindsay649]

Having watched both shows one must be carefull of jumping to a conclusion regarding food products on sale. No doubt a lot gets by any inspection system but a lot has to do with where you buy. The majority of Canadians purchase food products from the major chains not the smaller independent stores. Not one of the places that reporters shopped at were major supermarkets but stores that cater to specific segments of the population. If one was familiar with all aspects of production, from the producer to the store shelf, most of us would never purchase anything.

[Jake]

Here is the video link for those that missed it.

http://www.ctv.ca/generic/generated/sbplayer/WFive.html

When the page loads click on either,

W-FIVE: Safe to Eat? part one 11:18
W-FIVE: Safe to Eat? part two 10:20

along the right side of the page.

[StickyDragon]

Very interesting story. Sad that we really have no control over this stuff though, and that there are so many loopholes that the companies can use.

Ideally the Chinese government should improve their own standards so that it doesn't matter that the product is from China. Obviously that will not be happening anytime soon though.

[asif9t9]

Originally Posted by Lindsay649

Having watched both shows one must be carefull of jumping to a conclusion regarding food products on sale. No doubt a lot gets by any inspection system but a lot has to do with where you buy. The majority of Canadians purchase food products from the major chains not the smaller independent stores. Not one of the places that reporters shopped at were major supermarkets but stores that cater to specific segments of the population. If one was familiar with all aspects of production, from the producer to the store shelf, most of us would never purchase anything.

Actually, I thought they were showing how Highliner fish was coming from Russia, and through China and to our shores. But as long as on our shores, they turned the fish into a "stick", it could be called Canadian because the last processing was in Canada. That rule was specific to fish.