The laws under the responsibility of the Office de la protection du consommateur do not govern food safety, certification and origin.

These areas are under the responsibility of the Ministère de l’Agriculture, des Pêcheries et de l’Alimentation du Québec (MAPAQ) and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

If you witness any violations or failure to abide by food product regulations, if you find a foreign object in a food product or if you feel any discomfort after ingesting a food product, you can file a complaint with the MAPAQ.

Convictions and food recalls

You can refer to the following websites for information about convictions and recent food recalls:

• Condamnations des établissements alimentaires du Québec (in French only)
• Rappels d’aliments du MAPAQ (in French only)
• Food recall warnings from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency

Répertoire des écoétiquettes (in French only)

Certain foods can be identified as being “certified organic” or “GMO-free.” A number of logos are used in the industry in reference to such characteristics.

In order to provide the public with a clear understanding of such labels, the Ministère de l’Environnement et de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques publishes the Répertoire des écoétiquettes (directory of eco-labels, available in French only).

False or misleading statements

Under the Consumer Protection Act, no merchant, manufacturer or advertiser may, by any means whatever, make false or misleading representations regarding their products or services.

Is a merchant falsely claiming that a product is organic? Or does the merchant claim that its strawberries were grown in Québec, but they were actually imported from California? You can contact the Office de la protection du consommateur to file a complaint.

The page titled Prohibited Advertising Practices provides other examples of false or misleading information.