REGARDING THE CFIA RECALL: A MUST READ PLEASE SHARE THIS STATUS so people can understand the context of the recall. The CFIA inspectors were here May 14, 2014. They identified a problem with our labelling on the products we make in-store. Despite the fact that we clearly listed all ingredients in our products, the issue was that the products we make did not have the allergens declared. FIRST, THIS WAS A CLASS 3 RECALL, defined on the CFIA website as a situation in which the use of, or exposure to, a violative product is not likely to cause any adverse health consequences. Since the Excel Beef Crisis, the word recall has been sensationalized by the media. Given that this is a class 3 recall, it is NOT CONTEXTUALLY ACCURATE for the media to leave this VERY CLEAR definition out of their reporting. CFIA legislation specifies that there are allergens that need to be listed on products. Many of our house-made products contain milk, sesame, sulphites (lemon juice & vinegar), fish and egg. Therefore, separate from the ingredients, these allergens need to be listed in a specific format. For example, this format appears as contains: milk. Listing ingredients on our products is not a regulation and the CFIA recommended that we remove the ingredients on our labels. We thought that we were going above and beyond by listing them. We thought that listing yoghurt as an ingredient was acceptable as a way to declare that the product contains milk. CFIA regulations do not approve of this format. On May 14, 2014, within two hours of being notified of the proper format, we had changed the labels, removing the ingredients and adding the allergens. Our label scale printer does not have enough character spaces for both. Any store-made deli products purchased at Kredls prior to May 14 have the ingredients listed. Any products purchased on or after May 14 have the allergens listed. LET ME BE CLEAR, we do not have any issue with the regulations, in fact, we thought we were exceeding them. Our main goal in business is to provide a store that CHAMPIONS FOOD TRANSPARENCY. As a personal addendum, I feel it is unfair to use the word recall in this context. Nothing was pulled from the shelves. It was also a class 3 recall, therefore, according to their definition noted above, there is no health risk, apart from the potential for someone with an allergy to misinterpret our ingredients. Also, this was on May 14th. If anyone still has a product in their fridge, it is likely long past its best before date. It is important to note, that we have never had someone report an allergic reaction. For example, we know that our customers who are allergic to dairy will not consume our tzatziki because it contains yoghurt...made from milk. In the near future, we will once again have all our ingredients listed, despite CFIAs recommendation to remove them. We like to showcase the quality of our ingredients. Currently, our label machine cannot fit the allergens and the ingredients, so we need to purchase a new label scale, which is several thousand dollars. We need a second label scale anyway, but it will take some time to find the label scale that will best suit our needs. Here is the link to the CFIA recall, which really should be called a public notice: inspection.gc.ca/about-the-cfia/newsroom/food-recall-warnings/complete-listing/2014-05-26-r8879/eng/1401471589955/1401471617329 I hope this answers your questions. Id be happy to answer anything else you have questions about.
Posted on: Tue, 03 Jun 2014 19:06:55 +0000
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