Author: Quinn Patrick
A variety of food products imported from India with fake nutrition labels and expiry dates has prompted an investigation by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency as to whether the country poses a risk to the Canadian market.
Last week, Indian authorities raided a warehouse in Mumbai and seized more than $110,000 worth of products, chemicals and printing machines designed for the purpose of making fake nutrition labels and replacing old expiry dates on products from companies such as PepsiCo, Nestle, Coca-Cola and Unilever.
The scheme was intended to make the products suitable for export. While the companies themselves have not been accused of any wrongdoing, the illicit exporting group remains under investigation.
Meanwhile, the CFIA “is monitoring the situation to determine whether it presents any risk to imports into Canada. At this time, the CFIA has no information indicating that products associated with this operation entered Canada.”
“The Canadian Food Inspection Agency takes food fraud, including false date markings, inaccurate nutrition information, and misleading origin claims seriously,” it added in a statement to Reuters on Thursday.
The agency is the first foreign regulatory authority to respond to the incident.
The Mumbai raid was part of a broader food safety campaign across India conducted by both federal and state authorities to assess poor hygiene standards and target breaches of food safety laws.
The drive has resulted in a number of companies being issued instant suspension orders.
Among the labels uncovered in the warehouse raid was a packet of PepsiCo’s Indian brand Kurkure puffed chips that bore a fake label with nutrition information in both English and French, which looked eerily akin to the format prescribed in Canada.
The warehouse owners carried out the label changes and exported with the aid of 19 little-known exporters.
wow.. and is anyone really surprised? China is at the top of the copy cat pile, but India is at the top of the scammer pile.. but that's the type of people the LIEberal government insists on importing...
And this disgusting country, along with China, is at the top of the list for countries that the Liberals are striving to make deals with. Asinine