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Some Quebec grocery stores are inviting customers to return their unopened cans of maple syrup following an investigation published earlier this week by Radio-Canada’s Enquête program.
Through lab tests, the program found cans sold by Montérégie maple syrup producer Steve Bourdeau were cut with at least 50 per cent cane sugar, despite being labelled as pure maple syrup.
“As soon as we learned of the situation, we asked all stores concerned to pull this product from their shelves,” said Metro grocery store spokesperson Geneviève Grégoire. “Clients who wish to be reimbursed are invited to return their unopened product to the store where they purchased it.”
The cans of syrup are identified by Bourdeau’s numbered company 9227-8712 Québec inc. or are under the name “Érablière Steve Bourdeau.”
Le Marché Végétarien, a grocery store in the Eastern Townships and Trois-Rivières, has also pulled the products off its shelves as a preventative measure.
Fruiterie Potager, in Saint-Eustache, Que., is asking customers to return their cans.
Radio-Canada launched the investigation after one of its journalists happened to notice a can he purchased tasted off.
In footage from Enquête’s hidden cameras, Bourdeau boasted selling his products at a low price in hundreds of grocery stores in Quebec and Ontario, including in big chains like Metro and IGA.
He said he sold hundreds of thousands of cans last year alone.
WATCH | Radio-Canada reveals maple syrup cans contain cane sugar:
Fake maple syrup sold in Quebec stores contained cane sugar, Radio-Canada investigation finds
Radio-Canada’s Enquête team started an investigation after one of its journalists noticed maple syrup purchased at the grocery store had a strange taste. Lab tests later revealed the product contained foreign sugar, leading the team to visit the farm where it was produced using hidden cameras.
The Producteurs et productrices acéricoles du Québec, a federation representating maple producers in the province, has since submitted an official complaint regarding the syrup cans to Quebec’s food, agriculture and fisheries ministry, as well as the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
“It’s a shocking situation. It’s unacceptable,” said Luc Goulet, president of the maple producers federation. “We have suffered a loss of reputation.”
Goulet added he hopes grocery stores will give it a second thought before calling up Bourdeau’s company as a supplier.
When confronted with the Enquête investigation results, Bourdeau at first said the tests showing his syrup cut with cane sugar were “impossible,” but then suggested the blame may lie with some of his suppliers in other provinces.
He had previously admitted in front of hidden cameras that, in addition to making his own syrup, he purchased most of his syrup in bulk from suppliers in New Brunswick and Ontario, and then canned it.
The maple syrup producer has since committed to carrying out an investigation of his own to determine the source of the falsified syrup and fix the issue.