♪ [ theme ]
-[ Charlsie ] And let's talk
about buying Canadian.
Looks like it's made
with Canadian apples.
This says Canada Choice and
I don't know what that means.
-[ Charlsie ] Squeezing the
truth out of apple juice.
This is your "Marketplace".
[ ♪♪ ]
Take a nice branch like this.
I'm probably going to want maybe
four apples on that branch.
-[ Charlsie ] Brett Schuyler is
an apple farmer.
He wants to let you
in on an industry secret.
It's very unlikely you'll
be drinking
juice from this
orchard.
More to the point, you may think
you're drinking juice
from the orchard and not be.
I think there would be
a lot of people feeling
really deceived if they
knew the whole story.
But right now you can't
get the whole story.
You look at that product, how
do you know where it's from?
-[ Charlsie ] Interesting
question, especially when you
are face to face with a
wall of juice.
100% apple juice.
Not from concentrate.
Anything on there about
where the apples are from?
No.
Juice from concentrate.
No idea where the
apples come from.
-[ Charlsie ] Wow.
These sure seem Canadian.
From concentrate.
So it doesn't say where
the apples are from.
From the heart of
British Columbia.
Where are the apples from?
-[ Charlsie ] If this farmer
is stumped,
can consumers
sort it out?
We take some of what's for sale
on those shelves to the street.
Well, actually to the park.
[ ♪♪ ]
Where do you think
the apples that were used to
make this juice came from?
The apple farm.
The ground.
Canada.
Maybe quite far away.
Do you know what?
I actually have no idea.
I have never seen this before.
-Okay.
So I feel like this one
can go here.
Okay.
Maybe this one too.
Product of Canada.
Okay.
So this is Canadian.
Canada Choice here.
-Mmm-hmmm.
Maybe it's made in Canada.
This says Canada Choice.
There are a lot that
say Canada Choice.
Canada Choice.
-Canada Choice.
And I don't know
what that means.
Like, that just
Canada likes them maybe.
Okay.
Canada Choice.
What does that mean?
Meet lawyer Glenford Jameson.
His specialty, helping food
companies follow labelling laws.
Canada Choice is a grade
of apple juice and
apple juice from concentrate.
There are two grades,
Canada Choice and Canada Fancy.
Canada Fancy is marginally
better and more appley,
let's say, than Canada Choice.
But that's really
what you're being told.
So Canada Choice
doesn't actually have anything
to do with where
the apples are from?
Right.
Doesn't necessarily
mean the apples to make
the juice are Canadian.
Sure.
They could be from anywhere.
Canada Choice is
an old school term
from decades ago.
Back when apple juice was
made from apples grown here.
Fast forward and the apple
juice biz has gone global.
The ingredients are cheap
commodities shipped
around the world.
Mostly apple juice boiled
down into a thick concentrate,
then mixed with
water back in Canada.
In terms of where the
product originates from,
where the apples are
from, you're not given a lot.
You're not required
by law to know.
Like, it's not required to be
provided to you as a consumer.
So setting out the country of
origin is a voluntary statement.
Yeah.
Companies don't
have to tell you.
And our testers don't
like the taste of that.
Why do you think they don't
put where the apples are really
coming from on the label?
Because they're not being made
to and because they think that
people wouldn't want to know.
Like, well, that it wouldn't
be where people want them
to be from.
Maybe they're afraid that people
might treat it differently if
they knew where the
ingredients were coming from.
If apple come from China, it
might be, like, in a process.
It might be not so fresh.
This is not a big ask on the
part of the Canadian consumer to
identify where
things are coming from.
And it doesn't seem terribly
fair to the Canadian consumer
not to know.
Made in Canada from domestic
and imported ingredients.
So maybe they use Canadian sugar
but Polish apple and they say
it's made in Canada.
I don't-- maybe I re-read
it in French.
No, it's the same.
I don't think
it's a language barrier.
I think it's a label problem.
I don't understand
what that means.
Since the
labels don't tell us,
it's time to squeeze out facts
from some common juice brands.
We call up their
customer hotlines.
Thank you for calling
President's Choice.
First up, Loblaws,
no name.
I'm just wondering if you can
tell me where the apples
came from
that made this juice.
Okay, thanks.
[ ♪♪ ]
Okay, great.
Any guesses on where
the apples that are making that
apple juice
concentrate is coming from?
I'm guessing maybe U.S.
What if I told you China?
China.
No.
-Or Poland.
No.
Even if it's not
grown in Canada,
if it's grown
somewhere else, just say it.
Grown in China.
Just be very clear about exactly
where things are coming from.
-[ Charlsie ] This is how
it works in the U.S.A.
It's the law.
We get our hands on two
Minute Maid juice boxes.
Check out the American version.
This one is the U.S.
Argentina, Chile, China,
and Turkey again.
-[ Charlsie ] And the Canadian
moose juice box?
This one, no.
It's not there, is it?
No, not again.
Maybe Minute Maid's
Canadian hotline
has the answers.
Okay.
What?
In Canada it's a secret?
And Minute Maid's not
the only one playing coy.
Canada's number one juice
maker Lassonde makes
loads of brands,
including Allen's.
You think that the apples
are from Canada?
But you're not
a hundred percent sure.
She's not sure.
So we keep asking.
A week later, Lassonde
calls us back.
[ Phone Call Speaking
Words On Screen ]
And like Minute Maid,
Lassonde has two labels,
one for its American juice boxes
where it's crystal clear where
the apples are coming
from and then Canada's,
where you have
absolutely no clue.
[ ♪♪ ]
Back at the farm...
Contains apple juice
concentrate from the U.S.A.,
Argentina, Chile,
China, and Turkey.
-[ Charlsie ] I show Brett
some of those labels.
Just putting a phone number on
there and making the consumer
call and sit on hold
and wait and find out,
does that seem like
the right way to do it?
Absolutely not.
Who's going to call?
It's not that hard to do.
It is a great example looking
at what they have done in the
States to just put
it on the label.
Concentrating vitamin C.
Most of us have to get
our food from grocery stores
so these companies have a
lot of power over us.
When you have power, you
have the responsibility to be
truthful about what you're
making and what you're
putting out there.
♪ ♪
Charlsie: It's harvest time
in Brett Schuyler's orchards.
One of the largest in Ontario.
About 300 bins of
apples are picked each day.
But next to none of this
will end up in your juice box.
It's the same story
across the country.
Canada grows 20 million
bushels of apples per year,
and they're mostly for munching.
Oh, my gosh.
Can I bob for apples?
Look it.
[ ♪♪ ]
These are Macintosh.
But are these apples for juice
or are these--?
They're all fresh apples.
So actually these-- we
picked these last week.
There would be
less than 5% juice.
Brett just wants to
grow perfect apples like these
for eating because, remember,
there's a huge supply of cheap
concentrate, which means juice
makers in Canada don't have to
pay Canadian farmers much
for their dented juice apples.
For this apple here, you
go back to the grower.
Let's say get 20,
25 cents a pound.
This apple here, this is
going down to 5 cents a pound.
That's insane.
Yeah.
The spread would
be a lot bigger.
That just is what it is.
So you try very hard
not to have any defects.
What do you see as the
problem with the labelling rules
as it stands right now?
What needs to change?
What needs to change is you
need to know where your juice
is coming from.
Guess who
can make that change?
Our labelling police, the
Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
Nothing on there about where
those apples came from
or the concentrate.
And so the law itself does not
require you to actually put this
information on
this type of product.
Wouldn't that be the most
transparent thing
to do for consumers?
The best case scenario?
So you know what?
Transparency is a
very, very good point.
Aline Dimitri is an
executive director at the CFIA.
It's about striking the balance
between information that is
immediate and that gives you
the right signals and having the
entire set of information.
What about the signals
Allen's is sending
about its juice?
It says a Canadian favourite,
there's a Maple Leaf.
Everything about this makes me
think I'm getting a juice made
with Canadian apples.
For me, when I look at something
like this that says a Canadian
favourite, it does not
necessarily mean that it's a
Canadian product.
And I actually think that
that is part of the issue,
that we need to learn how to
actually collectively read the
labels to make sure that we
are not inferring certain things
that are not
intended on the label.
But that sounds like
you're blaming the
consumer for that?
I am not blaming the consumer.
Isn't the onus on these guys to
be honest and truthful about
what's actually in here?
And if the rules aren't clear--
-Have they lied?
Have they told you that it was
from a country and it's not?
You know what
sounds like to me?
Sounds like consumers are taking
a backseat to industry.
I really don't think so.
We listen to consumers.
We actually do surveys to
understand what consumers
have to say.
Well, we're listening too.
After hearing your complaints,
here's what we came up with.
So this is apple juice
from imported concentrate.
Mmm-hmmm.
Then instead of Canada Choice--
-Yes.
--we have come up with "Meets
Canadian juice standards."
Okay.
For ingredients, Canadian water,
concentrated apple juice
from China, Chile, Turkey,
Poland, et cetera.
That is very interesting.
I can't make promises.
But certainly I do
appreciate the effort.
We will take it back and we will
see how it can play within the
mix of how we're moving forward.
You can keep it
on your desk,
and then you'll never
forget "Marketplace".
And I like the fact that
there's multiple apples.
It's not just one kind.
You got it.
We also put prepared in Canada
from domestic ingredients.
Water, the only thing from
here, and imported
apple juice concentrate.
That way there's no confusion
about the fact that the only
thing Canadian here
would be the water.
And everything else
came from somewhere else.
We have a lot of
water in Canada.
We sure do.
Palm, twist up.
So I won't get to
drink its juice.
Perfect!
But I finally get to eat a honey
crisp straight from the tree.
This is so good.
-Hard to beat that crunch, hey?
-Yeah.
And it's super juicy.
So you eat good now.
It's that temptation.
They will get better.
How else
can this get better?
You don't think it
could be a little sweeter?
No. I think it's
really sweet.
That's why people pay for it.
It tastes like sunshine.
[ Laughter ]
♪ ♪
