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Quebec’s maple syrup producers’ federation is alleging in court documents that Steve Bourdeau, the producer linked to the recent fake maple syrup scandal, may be trying to resell bogus syrup that’s been returned to him by grocery stores.
The Quebec Federation of Maple Syrup Producers, known by its French acronym PPAQ, has filed a formal request with Quebec’s food marketing regulator, the Régie des marchés agricoles et alimentaires du Québec, to launch a full investigation into Bourdeau’s business, shut down his operations, and seize all his syrup.
Radio-Canada’s Enquête program first broke the story on April 2 that five cans of Bourdeau’s syrup for sale on grocery store shelves in Quebec and Ontario were tested and found to have been cut with more than 50 per cent cane sugar, despite being labelled “pure maple syrup.”
Most grocery stores have since pulled Bourdeau’s products from shelves and offered refunds.
New court documents show the Quebec Federation of Maple Syrup Producers is accusing Steve Bourdeau of fully intending to keep selling fake syrup. In early April, Radio-Canada’s Enquête program found that some of his syrup cans in grocery stores labelled “pure” had been cut with cane sugar. Customers later flagged other cans with labels that appeared to hide the name of Bourdeau’s company.
In documents filed with the regulator, the PPAQ says two of its inspectors visited Bourdeau’s sugar bush on April 16.
The PPAQ says inspectors found pallets of cans of syrup that had been returned to Bourdeau from suppliers, and that members of Bourdeau’s staff were transferring the syrup from the cans into large containers.
The inspectors asked Bourdeau what he intended to do with the syrup.
“I’ll find a way to get rid of it,” Bourdeau is quoted as answering, according to the court documents.
The PPAQ says Bourdeau’s intentions are clear.
“It therefore appears that the respondents (Bourdeau and his company) are still active, and that they still intend to sell adulterated maple products, despite the media attention given to their activities and to the detriment of the interests and reputation of all maple producers in Quebec,” the federation said in the court filing.
Federation asks to seize syrup, collect fines
In its legal filing, the PPAQ calls Bourdeau a “notorious and repeat offender.”
“In recent years, the respondents have been subject to numerous audits, requests for investigations and transactions in which they have admitted contraventions of the regulations applicable to the maple sector,” the PPAQ said.
The federation said immediately after Enquête’s initial report was broadcast, it contacted Bourdeau requesting information and documentation about his sales and business practices, and that he never responded.
The federation is asking the province’s food marketing regulator for permission to seize all of Bourdeau’s syrup, to order him to stop producing and marketing syrup, and to collect from him a total of $190,000 in fines and unpaid contributions.
It’s also asking for a full investigation into Bordeau’s operations for the last three years, in which the regulator could compel Bourdeau to provide required documents and to answer any questions.
Bourdeau hasn’t responded yet to the allegations contained in the court documents.
When responding to Enquête’s initial report on the fake syrup, Bourdeau suggested it might have come from one of his suppliers from out of province.
