Recent and repetitive complaints of misrepresentation of imported apples as Canadian-grown has pushed the British Columbia Fruit Growers’ Association (BCFGA) to complain to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA).
The BCFGA represents the interests of tree fruit growers, including apple producers across the Okanagan, Similkameen and Kootenay regions.
“We are writing to formally report ongoing and repeated violations of federal labeling requirements in BC retail outlets, specifically concerning the misrepresentation of imported apples as Canadian-grown,” writes Adrian Aarts, executive director, BCFGA, in a letter released in the association’s weekly newsletter on September 26, 2025.
“Over the past two weeks, our organization has received multiple complaints from growers and consumers about inaccurate country-of-origin labeling in stores. These complaints have been accompanied by photographs, which we have verified through direct in-person visits. In numerous instances, we observed imported apples from Washington State, New Zealand and Chile being labeled as “BC” or "Canada" product.
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