OTTAWA — The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has adopted an interim policy for defining local food.
The CFIA intends to conduct a review, with consultations from consumers and industry stakeholders, to update food labelling regulations, guidelines and policies regarding the use of the term “local.”
In the meantime, the CFIA defines local fare as “food produced in the province or territory in which it is sold or food sold across provincial borders within 50 kilometres of the originating province or territory.”
Previously, the CFIA interpreted the terms “local,” “locally grown,” to mean “the food originated within a 50-kilometre radius of the place where it was sold, or the food sold originated within the same local government unit [e.g. municipality] or adjacent government unit.”
