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Westfair Foods Fined $70,000 for Excess Fat Content in Ground Beef

On March 11, 2004 Westfair Foods Ltd. (doing business as The Real Canadian Superstore) was convicted in Vancouver Provincial Court on seven counts of violating the Food and Drugs Act. The company was fined $10,000 for each count for a total of $70,000 for labelling meat products in such a manner that was false or misleading.

In June 2002, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency conducted inspections in a number of the Real Canadian Superstore locations. Samples of extra lean ground beef from stores located in Vancouver, North Vancouver, Burnaby, Richmond, Kamloops, Nanaimo and Courtney revealed fat content in excess of the 10 per cent maximum allowed for ground beef labelled as “Extra Lean.”

As a result of the CFIA regulatory actions, Wesfair Foods Ltd. has implemented new policy and operational measures within the meat divisions of their stores to ensure that labels on ground meat accurately reflect the proper levels of fat content allowed by the Meat Inspection Act.

Under the Food and Drugs Act, prepackaged food and products must be labelled accurately to prevent any misleading information on the contents. The CFIA works diligently to prevent any labelling, packaging or advertising of any food in a matter that would mislead or deceive consumers.

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