Terry Newman: Why your steak sucks this summer
When questioned about where the meat comes from, he said that, 'The chicken is almost 99 per cent Canadian. The beef and the pork, one day we could get 10 cases of back ribs and it's all Canadian, and the next day we get two cases of American.'
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Yet 'none of the labels would tell you. That's what the little flags are for,' he explained, pointing to signs sitting above a bin of meat. 'Every couple of hours, they're constantly revising it in terms of what is and what isn't (Canadian).'
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Again, there was nothing on the individual packages of meat to indicate whether the beef is foreign or homegrown, just flags or signs being shifted around to indicate whether beef is Canadian.
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I spoke to a fourth butcher, this time at a Loblaws store, who confirmed that if it is not marked, there is no way for consumers to tell if the beef they are buying is from the United States or elsewhere.
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At this location, a display case with unpackaged prime cuts featured some pieces of meat with flags indicating that they were Canadian. However, other meats in the case did not have any country-identifying information.
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There were packages of beef marked 'Canadian Beef,' with stickers saying, 'Pick the Beef with the Leaf,' and clearly displaying a black Canadian flag with 'Canada' written in the centre on each individual package.
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However, there was also beef that was unmarked. For example, a section filled with stewing beef, striploins and eye round marinating steaks with and without 'Canadian Pepper Seasoning' did not bear the same Canadian symbol on the individual packages.
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The Loblaws butcher did, however, point to price tags above one bin of meats that had Canadian flags on it. These, he told me, were brought in as part of the 'Buy Canadian' movement against U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs. But these weren't everywhere in the store. In this location, they were above some vacuum-sealed, pre-seasoned pork products.
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Grading requirements aside, I needed to determine whether the butchers were correct about Canadians not being able to tell if their meat is not Canadian.
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I contacted Metro, Loblaws and the CFIA to ask why, as per the butchers I spoke with, there appears to be a lack of clarity around the labelling of meats from foreign countries, despite the rules posted on the food agency's website.
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I asked Stephanie Bonk, communications manager for Metro, if the butchers were correct in saying that beyond marked boxes out back, consumers in the store would not be able to know if their meat was Canadian. Bonk said that Metro follows Ontario rules, which do not require country of origin labelling.
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When I asked about store inspection, Bonk said that, 'To ensure compliance with federal and provincial requirements, the stores could be inspected by CFIA and/or' the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness.
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She explained that, 'There is no requirement for country of origin on retail meat cuts that are cut and packaged at store level. This would include ground meats, stewing meat, kabobs, stir fry meat, etc.'
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