Marmite and Irn-Bru “not banned” in Canada, says CFIA

Marmite and Irn-Bru “not banned” in Canada, says CFIA

Marmite-Saved

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency wants the country to take a deep breath and have a calming sip of sugar-free Irn-Bru. The government agency released a statement over the weekend declaring that the Scottish beverage—along with Marmite, Ovaltine, Bovril and other British foodstuffs—are not banned in Canada, as was widely reported last week.

The CFIA’s reaction comes in the wake of a story about a Saskatoon shop owner who says the agency forced him to remove such products from his shelves. Apparently, this was an isolated incident, and the versions of these items that turned up in Saskatchewan were never meant to be in Canada in the first place. “Canadian versions” of the products continue to be available, as usual. 

“Irn-Bru and Marmite are not banned for sale in Canada. Compliant formulations of these products have been available on Canadian store shelves for more than a decade and will continue to be sold,” the statement said. “The formulations of these particular products found in a recent shipment from the United Kingdom, were not intended for Canada and do not comply with Canada’s regulations.”

This recent turn of events should come as a relief to British food fanatics who had begun hoarding the products out of fear of scarcity. It should also go a long way towards calming ex-pat Brits who swiftly helped U.K. papers sensationalize the situation. “I couldn’t understand the insanity of stopping [Irn-Bru] coming into Canada,” one ex-Novocastrian told The Independent. “For a country that allows one to buys firearms, guns, bullets, stopping a soft drink suitable for all ages seems a little ludicrous.”