THE Canadian authorities have joined their US counterparts in accusing some fish companies of deceiving their customers by including ice in the weight of seafood products.
It said in a statement: "CFIA inspection activities have determined that the weight of some imported frozen fish products include glaze [ice] as part of the declared net weight. This practice is unacceptable and in contravention of the Fish Inspection Regulations and the Consumer Packaging and Labelling Regulations."
The border inspections began over a year ago after the agency received a trade complaint regarding unfair practices of some fish distributors. The agency says it now has enough evidence to issue a warning notice to importers, which was sent to major suppliers overseas.
Alf Bungay, a national manager of CFIA's food programme , said: "The data did indicate that there was some issue with the importers, but we're still in the process of collecting data to determine if it's specific to certain species or certain countries or certain importers." He said there was not yet any evidence of risk to consumers, but he insisted that seafood firms must label their fish free of any weight from ice.
Earlier this year, weight and measures officers in the US found that frozen fish and seafood products contain far too much ice inside the packaging, and in some cases consumers are paying 23 dollars per pound more when purchasing seafood. The problem has become so serious that it involved the US Food and Drug Administration which has announced that legal action could follow.
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