The owner of a British shop in Canada has been ordered to stop selling the great British products of Irn-Bru and Marmite because they contain illegal additives.
Tony Badger, who owns Brit Foods in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, told local media that food safety officials had removed the foods from his shelves.
Other affected products include Lucozade, Penguin Bars and Bovril.
Mr Badger said he had been selling the items since 1997, and had never had problems in the past.
One customer, Briton Nigel Westwick, told the Star Phoenix newspaper that he "couldn't understand the insanity" of preventing Irn Bru from entering Canada.
"For a country that allows one to buy firearms, guns, bullets... stopping a soft drink suitable for all ages seems a little ludicrous."
Canada 'orders Briton to stop selling Marmite and Irn Bru'
23 January 2014
BBC News
Marmite falls foul of Canada's laws because it is enriched with vitamins
The owner of a British food shop in Canada says he has been ordered to stop selling Marmite, Ovaltine and Irn Bru because they contain illegal additives.
Tony Badger, who owns Brit Foods in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, told local media that food safety officials had removed the foods from his shelves.
Other affected products include Lucozade, Penguin Bars and Bovril.
Mr Badger said he had been selling the items since 1997, and had never had problems in the past.
"We've been bringing Irn-Bru in since the very beginning," he told CKOM. The bright orange caffeinated drink is particularly popular in Scotland and the rest of the UK, but sold in countries around the world.
"My understanding was we were importing legally. We've been declaring it through a customs broker and we've never had an issue until now," said Mr Badger.
Expensive delays
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is reportedly cracking down on the sale of such goods and increasing its inspections of suppliers.
Irn-Bru limited edition cans to mark the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. Irn-Bru is Scotland's most popular soft drink, and Scotland is probably the only place in the world in which its own soft drink outsells Coca-Cola
Irn-Bru contains at least one additive - Ponceau 4R - which has been linked to hyperactivity and does not appear on the approved food list in Canada.
The other products are banned because they are "enriched with vitamins and mineral" while some canned foods and soup contained too much animal product.
The CFIA could not be reached for comment.
Mr Badger said he first ran into trouble in October when his Christmas stock was seized as it was imported from Britain. Then last week, officials from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency came to his shop to confiscate the remaining produce.
"The concern now is, with the next shipment, if it gets held there may be new issues with new products, so it somewhat paralyses our ability to bring new product in," he said, adding the delays had already cost him thousands of dollars.
Brit Foods in Saskatoon sells British products
Some of the products in the store
But he said the agency was now conducting a health assessment on the foods to determine whether they were fit for sale.
"I haven't heard of anyone dying from consuming Irn-Bru in Scotland or Britain," he said. "So hopefully we will get a favourable decision."
One customer, Briton Nigel Westwick, told the Star Phoenix newspaper that he "couldn't understand the insanity" of preventing Irn Bru from entering Canada.
"For a country that allows one to buy firearms, guns, bullets... stopping a soft drink suitable for all ages seems a little ludicrous."
Great British products
Marmite
In 1902 the Marmite Food Extract Company was formed in Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England by the Gilmour family, with Marmite as its main product and Burton as the site of the first factory. The product took its name from the "marmite", a French term for a large, covered earthenware or metal cooking pot.
Marmite is a sticky, dark brown food paste with a distinctive, powerful flavour, which is extremely salty. This distinctive taste is reflected in the British company's marketing slogan: "Love it or hate it."
Apart from Marmite Original, it also comes in other flavours, including Guinness flavour.
Irn Bru
Irn-Bru is a Scottish carbonated soft drink, often described as "Scotland's other national drink" (after Scotch whisky). It is produced in Westfield, Cumbernauld, North Lanarkshire, by A.G. Barr of Glasgow.
In addition to being sold throughout the United Kingdom, Barr's Irn-Bru is available throughout the world and can usually be purchased where there is a significant community of people from Britain.
Irn-Bru was first produced in 1901, in the town of Falkirk, under the name Iron Brew. In 1946, a change in laws required that the word brew be removed from the name, as the drink is not brewed. The chairman of the company came up with the idea of changing the spelling of both halves of the name, giving the Irn-Bru brand.
Irn-Bru is known for its bright orange colour and a taste similar to that of bubblegum.
A tagline, "Made in Scotland from girders", was used for several years from the 1980s, usually featuring Irn-Bru drinkers becoming unusually strong, durable, or magnetic.
Today Irn-Bru is the most popular soft drink in Scotland and the third most popular in the UK as a whole. Scotland is probably the only place in the world in which its own soft drink - in this case Irn-Bru - outsells Coca-Cola.
Bovril
Bovril is the trademarked name of a thick, salty, meat extract drink, developed in the 1870s by John Lawson Johnston and sold in a distinctive, bulbous jar. It is made in Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, owned and distributed by Unilever UK.
In 1870, in the Franco-Prussian War, Napoleon III ordered one million cans of beef to feed his troops. The task of providing all this beef went to a Scotsman living in Canada named John Lawson Johnston. Large quantities of beef were available across the British Dominions and South America, but its transport and storage were problematic. Therefore, Johnston created a product known as 'Johnston's Fluid Beef', later called Bovril, to meet the needs of Napoleon III. By 1888, over 3,000 British public houses, grocers and chemists were selling Bovril. In 1889, the Bovril Company was formed.
Bovril can be made into a drink by diluting a tabelspoon of it with hot water, or less commonly with milk. It can also be used as a flavouring for soups, stews or porridge, or spread on bread, especially toast, rather like Marmite.
It is also a traditional favourite with football fans, who drink it from thermoses in the terraces during matches in the depth of winter to keep warm.
During a 2011 episode of Top Gear, presenter James May drank from an urn of Bovril while driving a snowplough in freezing temperatures in Norway and commented: "We all know that's when it's snowing and it's cold you have Bovril. That's a rule of life."
Lucozade
Lucozade is an energy and sports drink.
"Glucozade" was first manufactured in 1927 by William Owen, a chemist from Newcastle who experimented for several years to provide a source of energy for those who were sick with common illnesses, like the common cold or influenza. It became available throughout Britain for use in hospitals under the name Glucozade. This was changed to Lucozade in 1929, and Beecham's acquired the product in 1938. By the early 1950s, Lucozade was the source of half of the company's profits.
Lucozade was sold in a glass bottle with a yellow Cellophane wrap until 1983, when Lucozade was rebranded as an energy drink to shift the brand's associations away from illness. The slogan "Lucozade aids recovery" was replaced by "Lucozade replaces lost energy". The glass bottle was replaced by a plastic (polyethylene terephthalate, PET) one.
Lucozade Original is of an orange colour and has a unique flavour, but it is also sold in other flavours such as Blackurrant, Orange, Cherry and Tropical.
Penguin Bars
Penguin biscuits are milk chocolate-covered biscuit bars filled with chocolate cream. They are produced by United Biscuits' manufacturing division McVitie's.
They were first produced in 1932 by William McDonald, a biscuit manufacturer in Glasgow, and became a McVitie's brand when McDonald joined with McVitie's and Price, MacFarlane Lang & Co and Crawford to form United Biscuits in 1964.
Each wrapper has a joke or "funny fact" printed on it and imaginative, often humorous designs featuring penguins that often pastiche famous works of art.
BBC News - Canada 'orders Briton to stop selling Marmite and Irn Bru'
Tony Badger, who owns Brit Foods in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, told local media that food safety officials had removed the foods from his shelves.
Other affected products include Lucozade, Penguin Bars and Bovril.
Mr Badger said he had been selling the items since 1997, and had never had problems in the past.
One customer, Briton Nigel Westwick, told the Star Phoenix newspaper that he "couldn't understand the insanity" of preventing Irn Bru from entering Canada.
"For a country that allows one to buy firearms, guns, bullets... stopping a soft drink suitable for all ages seems a little ludicrous."
Canada 'orders Briton to stop selling Marmite and Irn Bru'
23 January 2014
BBC News
Marmite falls foul of Canada's laws because it is enriched with vitamins
The owner of a British food shop in Canada says he has been ordered to stop selling Marmite, Ovaltine and Irn Bru because they contain illegal additives.
Tony Badger, who owns Brit Foods in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, told local media that food safety officials had removed the foods from his shelves.
Other affected products include Lucozade, Penguin Bars and Bovril.
Mr Badger said he had been selling the items since 1997, and had never had problems in the past.
"We've been bringing Irn-Bru in since the very beginning," he told CKOM. The bright orange caffeinated drink is particularly popular in Scotland and the rest of the UK, but sold in countries around the world.
"My understanding was we were importing legally. We've been declaring it through a customs broker and we've never had an issue until now," said Mr Badger.
Expensive delays
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is reportedly cracking down on the sale of such goods and increasing its inspections of suppliers.
Irn-Bru limited edition cans to mark the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. Irn-Bru is Scotland's most popular soft drink, and Scotland is probably the only place in the world in which its own soft drink outsells Coca-Cola
Irn-Bru contains at least one additive - Ponceau 4R - which has been linked to hyperactivity and does not appear on the approved food list in Canada.
The other products are banned because they are "enriched with vitamins and mineral" while some canned foods and soup contained too much animal product.
The CFIA could not be reached for comment.
Mr Badger said he first ran into trouble in October when his Christmas stock was seized as it was imported from Britain. Then last week, officials from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency came to his shop to confiscate the remaining produce.
"The concern now is, with the next shipment, if it gets held there may be new issues with new products, so it somewhat paralyses our ability to bring new product in," he said, adding the delays had already cost him thousands of dollars.
Brit Foods in Saskatoon sells British products
Some of the products in the store
But he said the agency was now conducting a health assessment on the foods to determine whether they were fit for sale.
"I haven't heard of anyone dying from consuming Irn-Bru in Scotland or Britain," he said. "So hopefully we will get a favourable decision."
One customer, Briton Nigel Westwick, told the Star Phoenix newspaper that he "couldn't understand the insanity" of preventing Irn Bru from entering Canada.
"For a country that allows one to buy firearms, guns, bullets... stopping a soft drink suitable for all ages seems a little ludicrous."
Great British products
Marmite
In 1902 the Marmite Food Extract Company was formed in Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England by the Gilmour family, with Marmite as its main product and Burton as the site of the first factory. The product took its name from the "marmite", a French term for a large, covered earthenware or metal cooking pot.
Marmite is a sticky, dark brown food paste with a distinctive, powerful flavour, which is extremely salty. This distinctive taste is reflected in the British company's marketing slogan: "Love it or hate it."
Apart from Marmite Original, it also comes in other flavours, including Guinness flavour.
Irn Bru
Irn-Bru is a Scottish carbonated soft drink, often described as "Scotland's other national drink" (after Scotch whisky). It is produced in Westfield, Cumbernauld, North Lanarkshire, by A.G. Barr of Glasgow.
In addition to being sold throughout the United Kingdom, Barr's Irn-Bru is available throughout the world and can usually be purchased where there is a significant community of people from Britain.
Irn-Bru was first produced in 1901, in the town of Falkirk, under the name Iron Brew. In 1946, a change in laws required that the word brew be removed from the name, as the drink is not brewed. The chairman of the company came up with the idea of changing the spelling of both halves of the name, giving the Irn-Bru brand.
Irn-Bru is known for its bright orange colour and a taste similar to that of bubblegum.
A tagline, "Made in Scotland from girders", was used for several years from the 1980s, usually featuring Irn-Bru drinkers becoming unusually strong, durable, or magnetic.
Today Irn-Bru is the most popular soft drink in Scotland and the third most popular in the UK as a whole. Scotland is probably the only place in the world in which its own soft drink - in this case Irn-Bru - outsells Coca-Cola.
Bovril
Bovril is the trademarked name of a thick, salty, meat extract drink, developed in the 1870s by John Lawson Johnston and sold in a distinctive, bulbous jar. It is made in Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, owned and distributed by Unilever UK.
In 1870, in the Franco-Prussian War, Napoleon III ordered one million cans of beef to feed his troops. The task of providing all this beef went to a Scotsman living in Canada named John Lawson Johnston. Large quantities of beef were available across the British Dominions and South America, but its transport and storage were problematic. Therefore, Johnston created a product known as 'Johnston's Fluid Beef', later called Bovril, to meet the needs of Napoleon III. By 1888, over 3,000 British public houses, grocers and chemists were selling Bovril. In 1889, the Bovril Company was formed.
Bovril can be made into a drink by diluting a tabelspoon of it with hot water, or less commonly with milk. It can also be used as a flavouring for soups, stews or porridge, or spread on bread, especially toast, rather like Marmite.
It is also a traditional favourite with football fans, who drink it from thermoses in the terraces during matches in the depth of winter to keep warm.
During a 2011 episode of Top Gear, presenter James May drank from an urn of Bovril while driving a snowplough in freezing temperatures in Norway and commented: "We all know that's when it's snowing and it's cold you have Bovril. That's a rule of life."
Lucozade
Lucozade is an energy and sports drink.
"Glucozade" was first manufactured in 1927 by William Owen, a chemist from Newcastle who experimented for several years to provide a source of energy for those who were sick with common illnesses, like the common cold or influenza. It became available throughout Britain for use in hospitals under the name Glucozade. This was changed to Lucozade in 1929, and Beecham's acquired the product in 1938. By the early 1950s, Lucozade was the source of half of the company's profits.
Lucozade was sold in a glass bottle with a yellow Cellophane wrap until 1983, when Lucozade was rebranded as an energy drink to shift the brand's associations away from illness. The slogan "Lucozade aids recovery" was replaced by "Lucozade replaces lost energy". The glass bottle was replaced by a plastic (polyethylene terephthalate, PET) one.
Lucozade Original is of an orange colour and has a unique flavour, but it is also sold in other flavours such as Blackurrant, Orange, Cherry and Tropical.
Penguin Bars
Penguin biscuits are milk chocolate-covered biscuit bars filled with chocolate cream. They are produced by United Biscuits' manufacturing division McVitie's.
They were first produced in 1932 by William McDonald, a biscuit manufacturer in Glasgow, and became a McVitie's brand when McDonald joined with McVitie's and Price, MacFarlane Lang & Co and Crawford to form United Biscuits in 1964.
Each wrapper has a joke or "funny fact" printed on it and imaginative, often humorous designs featuring penguins that often pastiche famous works of art.
BBC News - Canada 'orders Briton to stop selling Marmite and Irn Bru'
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