Tests find more than half of candy and snacks don’t meet claims on labels
September 3, 2010
Lesley Ciarula Taylor
STAFF REPORTER
More than half of the nutrition labels on candy, snacks and bread are inaccurate, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency has found in tests.
The agency on Friday confirmed that results released to the Vancouver Sun through a Freedom of Information request were accurate.
The agency has an escalating series of methods – up to product seizure and prosecution – to get manufacturers to fix the mistakes, a CFIA spokeswoman told the Star.
Of the 252 treats tested by the CFIA, 159 had inaccurate information on their labels, the agency found.
• 59 per cent of the 208 breads, cookies and muffins failed to contain certain whole grains that were claimed, or misleadingly called themselves “low fat.”
• 49 per cent of snacks wrongly called themselves low in sodium, the tests found.
• 20 per cent of the candy and 30 per cent of the baked foods and breads overstated the amounts in the packages.
The CFIA did not release any brand names. The products were subject to tests between 2006 and 2010 because of concerns about accuracy, according to information released by the CFIA.
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