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Product of Canada, eh?

Ice Cream & Cheese

Under current law, only a limited amount of fluid milk and cream can be imported tariff-free into Canada. "Modified milk ingredients" are a different story. That name can mean just about any product that was initally part of milk, especially including the following:

  • skim milk powder
  • milk protein concentrates
  • milk protein isolates
  • casein
  • caseinates
  • whey protein concentrates

It's possible to make products such as cheese and ice cream using only modified milk ingredients and no fluid milk or cream at all.

Here are some quick cheese facts:
  • The substitution of milk protein concentrate for milk is most common in lower quality, less expensive products such as generic cheddar and mozzarella
  • Essentially all the milk protein concentrate used in Canada is imported. New Zealand is the major source; it also comes from Europe and U.S.
  • Because of price controls on Canadian dairy products, imported milk protein concentrate costs much less than than comparable Canadian product does.
  • There is currently no way for consumers to know how much fluid (and therefore Canadian) milk is in Canadian cheese
A 2007 proposed amendment to the Food and Drug Regulations supported by dairy farmers would limit the amounts of milk products other than milk, partly skimmed milk, skim milk or cream that can be used in cheesemaking. The proposed legislation would require 70% of Mozzarella, 100% of Cheddar, 95% of Fine Cheeses and 83% of commercial cheese to be made from fluid milk, which cannot be imported tariff-free.

Now on to some quick ice cream facts.
  • Many of the ice creams for sale in Canada only list "modified milk ingredients" on their labels, and no milk or cream at all.
  • Only 12 of the country's 50 dairies actually use 100 per cent Canadian cream in their ice cream.
  • The others, including such big players as Good Humor-Breyers, Chapmans and NestlĂ©, use cream in only some of their products as the source of fat.
  • Others use only cheaper imported butteroil-sugar blend (modified milk ingredients mixed with sugar) or a blend of domestic and imported butteroil.

What is butteroil-sugar blend? It was invented to get around tariffs on imported milk ingredients. Because it is 51 percent sugar, it is legally classified as a confectionery product, not a dairy one. There is no limit to the amount of butteroil-sugar blend that can be imported into Canada.

After it was classified this way, manufacturers jumped on it: The volume of butteroil-sugar blend imports increased 488% in just over 18 months between 1995 and 1997.

Posted on October 24, 2007
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Comments - Share your thoughts

How pathetic -- Canadian dairy farmers work like slaves, 365\24\7, while our government undercuts them with these sleazy "51 per cent" rules. We're think we're buying Canadian ice cream and cheese, but we're unwittingly boosting the profits of manufacturers too greedy to support Canadian farmers but only too willing to rush into the marketplace with their "product of Canada" stickers. Ministers of agriculture and consumer affairs: what are you prepared to do to restore integrity to Canadian food packaging? Posted by: louise macmaster | Oct 24, 07 11:43 PM
It would have been very helpful if the feature included names of locally (100% Canadian) made ice cream brands. Posted by: Prakash | Oct 25, 07 01:04 AM
Mass produced ice cream products are filled with whey powder and other fillers. It is one of the worst products anyone could consume. Does anyone ever wonder why a tub is so cheap and why most of the freezers are filled with this type of ice cream? I have heard that there is a "whey" cartel where companies battle to supply the big ice cream producers. Take a look at how many ingredients it takes to make a tub of processed ice cream. About 20 - 30 as opposed to naturally made ice cream which takes about 6. If you want to choose locally made you will have to pay a lot more for a lot less but who cares, you know it is made locally and it will taste amazing. Posted by: Michael | Oct 25, 07 04:45 PM
These crappy cheap ice creams also include a lot of artificial thickeners and gums to make up for the lack of texture you'd otherwise get from using these bogus ingredients. Guar gum, carrageenan gum, xantham gum, etc. While these gums are not all bad for you, per se, their presence in the food indicates just how far from "real" the thing is. In other words, a touch of gum as a stabilizer is one thing, but a lot of it, and different types, indicates it's making up for something that should be naturally ocurring. When you know what real ice cream feels and tastes like, you can spot the fake stuff right away. Posted by: Ed Hawco | Oct 26, 07 05:23 PM
I was going to buy garlic bulbs in Foodland today. but on a closer look I found they were grown in China. I wonder if they have been tested for lead. I will not buy food grown in China. Posted by: Margaret | Oct 27, 07 06:21 PM
I am totally disgusted by the way honest Canadians are duped into believing that we are paying for and consuming Canadian products when the only thing that comes from Canada is the box. Shame on you Agriculture and Consumer affairs. Our eating habits are about to change. I will not feed my family that crap. Posted by: alice | Oct 28, 07 12:38 PM
How is it that our national government can decline interviews with our national television network? I get how private enterprise can (and most likely will) decline interviews, as it may not serve their own interests ($$$) as opposed to their customers' interests (e.g., good health) - but should not our government(s) at the very least give the appearance of serving the interests of the voting public? Posted by: Raj W | Oct 28, 07 12:56 PM
In response to Louise MacMaster's comment - In Ontario, We have Kawartha Dairy in Bobcageyon, Hewitt's Dairy in Hagersville and also Nestle makes a premium line called "Real Dairy" which is 100% milk and cream. Also some Haagen Dazs is pure as well. These brands can be found in small town convenience stores. Main supermarkets won't sell it to avoid competition with their multinational suppliers' products. Posted by: Ben Millson | Oct 28, 07 03:06 PM
This Made in Canada labeling is a complete farce. It make me feel like a complete idiot. Can CBC come up with a list of products which are really made in Canada? It makes me sick to think I was eating food which is not even remotely made here. I would boycott the products which are not Canadian. I just don't trust those multi nationals, they take away jobs and income from our Canadians and make inferior crap for us to eat and label it Made in Canada.OOOOH I'm so mad. Posted by: Walter Mirosh | Oct 28, 07 11:35 PM
In response to Ben Millson, Nestle's "Real Dairy" is only partly real. The second ingredient (after cream) is "modified milk ingreditents" (read: butteroil). Here's the list, straight from their Web site: FRESH CREAM, MODIFIED MILK INGREDIENTS, SUGAR, CORN SYRUP, EVAPORATED SKIM MILK, STABILIZERS*, NATURAL VANILLA FLAVOUR, PURE GROUND VANILLA BEANS. *STABILIZERS: MONO- AND DIGLYCERIDES, GUAR GUM, CALCIUM SULPHATE, CELLULOSE GUM, CARRAGEENAN. "Real" ice cream does not contain corn syrup, three kinds of gum (guar, cellulose, and carrageenan) and "natural vanilla flavour" (which is most likely not made from vanilla). Source: http://www.nestle.ca/en/products/brands/Real_Dairy/natural_vanilla.htm Posted by: Ed Hawco | Oct 29, 07 02:26 PM
The condescending, rude, patronising Loblaw's executive disgusted me. Wendy Mesley tells her she's been trying to get information from Loblaws for two months and she blows it off completely. She acted as though you had no concern at first, then that it just was not a big deal at all. When we have heartless, arrogant people like her running corporations, it's no wonder we're eating garlic from bloody China! She reminds me of Lindsay Nagle, the heartless generic executive from the Simpsons. Posted by: Dave | Oct 31, 07 07:54 PM
I'm just as disgusted and angry as most people are that have commented. Since last week, I've been furiously looking for the 1-800 numbers and websites of the products my family and I eat. It's overwhelming, however, I'm determined to follow-up with these companies as much as I can. I've sent emails so far. I really like someone's idea - Can CBC come up with a list of products which are really made in Canada? I know this would be a huge task, however, we would be soooo grateful. Another suggestion is to post a site where Canadians can post information they have found about so called "Product Of Canada" items. What do u think? Posted by: Tish | Nov 4, 07 04:27 PM
While we can't tell the percentage of Canadian dairy in a mixed product, anything that is 100% will have a little blue cow on the label. Look for it the next time you're in the dairy section of your grocery store and make that your choice over cheap, inferior imports. Posted by: beth | Nov 13, 07 05:20 PM
As a second generation dairy farmer it sometimes makes me sick when I realize what the next multinational cocktail is in a effort dupe the consumers and cheat our national agricultural industry. I heard milk is coming in from China and made into chocolate milk and sold in tetra-paks in Wal-Mart. Product of Canada because it was mixed and packaged in Canada. It is truly shameful. Posted by: Bernie Zimmerman | Nov 16, 07 10:55 PM
I would just like to know which 12 dairies use real Canadian cream. I would buy their products exclusively. I will be a much more cautious shopper from now on. Posted by: Bonnie McNulty | Nov 18, 07 12:23 PM
Thank you for the work you are doing at Market Place. I recently attended a gathering in Saskatoon where they challenged us to eat local for three weeks. After I saw your show I realized how tough it really is. I tried getting local cheese from a store that specializes in it, and they said they did not have any from Saskatchewan or Alberta. Safeway limits the shelf space for local dairy products (dairyworld) to inconvenient small sizes. Most of the fresh vegetables from Sobeys are from the US or Mexico. Alternatively there is a local farmers market, a direct to home delivery from Dairyworld, and CHEP which sells packages of locally grown seasonable items which I will be switching to. I've heard co-op's are better at handling local products but I have yet to investigate it myself. Thanks again for your work. I believe we need to lobby Parliament to change the labeling rules to reflect a product is Canadian if the the main content originates from Canada. A second mandatory item should indicate where it was processed. Posted by: Terry - Saskatoon | Dec 1, 07 09:10 PM
I became so concerned about the hormones and antibiotics in my family's milk that I switched to organic. My kids immediately commented on the taste difference -- and I have noticed it appears much whiter and thicker than the non-organic variety -- despite the same fat content. It's easily worth the extra money. Posted by: Charlie | Dec 5, 07 07:22 AM
Read your article on the Web about "Product of Canada". It was excellent and factual. It needs to be taken one step further. Many people look at meat, canned vegetables and fruit, and vegetable and fruit juices and see the "grade" which is "Canada Choice, fancy etc" or "Canada Grade AAAA, AAA etc". This gives many people the impression it is produced in Canada even though there is no "product label" on it. Again, "Grade" is a way of deceiving the general Public who thought that what the government was doing was to protect them. Food really produced in Canada has high standards to meet. We had a very good "Safe food policy" BUT it only works if you can figure out what is actually grown in Canada because imported food stuffs have have a different set of food safety rules. This puts us into a whole new set of problems. Food produced outside of Canada can use herbicides and pesticides etc that are not allowed in Canadian production making an uneven playing field for Canadian farmers. They produce cheap and sell cheap but are sometimes unsafe, Canadian farmers pay more for production but have a better, safer product. Posted by: Gail R. Murdock | Jan 17, 08 11:37 AM
For those in Quebec looking for a Quebec made Ice Cream AND is made from milk and cream, look for the Coaticook Ice Cream at the grocery stores. It is getting more and more popular as people realize what they are eating and in fact, the superior taste of natural home-grown products. Posted by: Marco | Jan 20, 08 12:34 PM
just came across this story, and as one of the owners of Hewitt's Dairy Ltd., a family owned company started in 1887, I just want to point out to people that you need to look for the little blue Dairy Bureau of Canada cow on the cartons of ice cream to ensure that the product you are purchasing is made with 100% Canadian dairy products. We use only fresh milk and cream, and our milk comes from producers within an approximately 50 mile range of our plant. It surprises me how many people don't realize how little Canadian content there is in some ice creams! Posted by: Maureen Hewitt-Topp | Apr 3, 08 11:33 AM
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