Loblaw backtracks on dropping country-of-origin produce labels after

Loblaw has reversed its decision to drop country-of-origin labelling on produce signs in stores, following widespread customer backlash. 

The outcry began earlier this month after shoppers noticed the area on produce displays, which used to indicate where food was grown, had been left blank. 

“We should know what we’re eating,” said Karla Hennig of Penticton, B.C. The committed “Buy Canadian” shopper says she was disappointed when she discovered the missing information last week at her local Superstore. 

“I just think it’s terribly disrespectful of my time and my money,” she said. “They want me to support them, but they are not giving me what I’ve asked for.”

Produce signage at Loblaw stores across Canada reflected the same change, except in Ontario and Quebec; Canada’s largest grocer continued providing origin details in those two provinces because provincial regulations mandate certain types of labelling transparency.

But in other provinces, many Loblaw shoppers took to social media to denounce the policy change — which the grocer initiated just before Canada-U.S. trade talks collapsed, sparking a fresh trade war and renewed interest in buying Canadian products. 

After noticing that produce at his local Real Canadian Superstore lacked country-of-origin labelling, Edmonton resident Karl Mueller posted a complaint on Facebook and fired off a letter to the chain’s head office.

He said on Monday that recent trade tensions have only strengthened his resolve, suggesting this is the wrong time for Superstore to cut back on in-store food labelling.

“It seems to me like a really un-Canadian thing to do,” he said. “There’s an economic attack on us. As just an ordinary citizen, my only way of fighting back is to support Canadian businesses, to shop local.”

On Monday, agricultural economist Ellen Goddard suggested Loblaw may backtrack on its decision.

“They’re probably thinking, ‘Boy, we picked the wrong [time] to pull the labelling,’ ” said Goddard, a professor at the University of Alberta in Edmonton.

“The emotion is much higher now.”

Goddard’s prediction turned out to be accurate. Following a CBC News inquiry to the grocer, Loblaw responded by email that, “as Canada enters another period of trade uncertainty with the United States,” the grocer is taking steps to help shoppers buy Canadian products.

The grocer said those efforts include reintroducing country-of-origin information in produce aisles and a “T” symbol on shelf labels for American products affected by U.S. tariffs. 

The news was met with cautious optimism by some shoppers.

“If Loblaws…