"Product of Canada" doesn't necessarily mean what many shoppers think, says a consumer advocacy group calling for more transparent labelling regulations.

'Secrecy is not something that we should be having to fight here.'—Bruce Cran, Consumers' Association of Canada

Bruce Cran, president of the Consumers' Association of Canada, says that consumers have a right to know where their food was grown.

"Secrecy is not something that we should be having to fight here," he said.

Under current federal regulations, goods can be stamped with a "Product of Canada" label if 51 per cent of the production costs are Canadian. For example, companies can label their juice Canadian by adding water to imported fruit concentrate and bottling the product.

But critics say this could raise consumer concerns, particularly in light of recent food safety problems involving Chinese imports. China's food safety regulations have come under scrutiny in recent months after it was discovered that imported wheat flour used to make pet food in North America was tainted with melamine — an industrial chemical used to make plastics and fertilizer.

Over the past 10 years, imports from China have ballooned nearly 400 per cent. Many retailers say, based on price, other countries just can't compete. For example, a case of garlic from Mexico costs as much as $55, whereas a case from China costs $13.

CFIA screens companies with past problems

Canada's food watchdog is currently holding and testing all shipments of vegetable proteins being brought into the country. Canadian Food Inspection Agency officials in late May said they had intercepted one shipment of corn gluten imported from China that tested positive for melamine and cyanuric acid.

For all products, the CFIA has adopted a risk-based approach that zeroes in on companies with a history of problems.

"Our program is based on risk and of course the risk that is posed to any consumer is related to the food itself, not the country from which that food is derived," Paul Mayers, a CFIA spokesman said. 

'It's a big concern to our farmers because it is tough to compete against production that does not have the same high standards that we have here in Canada.'—Bob Friesen, Canadian Federation of Agriculture

As an alternative, the government could introduce a certification program, a method used by the European Union, says Mansel Griffiths, a food science professor at the University of Guelph.

"Individual companies that export to the EU are certified for export of food materials to the union and only those companies are then allowed to export the food to those markets," he said.

Canadian Federation of Agriculture proposes new labelling program

Meanwhile, the Canadian Federation of Agriculture is in the early stages of proposing a new labelling system that would spotlight food produced in Canada. CFA president Bob Friesen says the program could help boost support for Canadian farmers.

"It's a big concern to our farmers because it is tough to compete against production that does not have the same high standards that we have here in Canada," Friesen said.

"And so that is why we feel this is a positive way of making sure that our Canadian consumer has that choice and then they can make the decision on what they would like to buy," he said.

The details of the proposed program, including qualification criteria, are still being developed.