[Marc Montgomery]

Actually, in the original story, the Saskatoon shop owner had a Christmas shipment seized by Customs in Montreal..

Then it seems weeks later,(??) the CFIA visited the shop and pulled all kinds of things off the shelf...Ovaltine, Bovril, Marmite, Penguin Bars etc...and said they would test it and get back to him on their approval.

That's when the fertilizer hit the ventilation system with papers and media all over the UK, including the BBC loudly expressing shock.

Interestingly only the one Saskatoon shop was targetted, and of course when the news hit , lots of people rushed Brit specialty shops across Canada over the weekend to stock up on supplies before they too would be "pulled/banned".

CFIA had initially refused to comment to reporters on the seizure which allowed the story to get completely out of hand.
They responded on the weekend..so the "clarification" really didnt get much traction until Monday.

It seems the original shipment contained meat products made from British beef (perhaps the Bovril???) which is not allowed in Canada...and apparently the other stuff has formulas also not destined for the Cdn market.. Irn Bru has a red dye that is not approved here....or at least not in that shipment.

CFIA says there are Cdn approved formulas for the Marmite, Ovaltine, bovril etc.. and says those products will continue to be avialable

One reader of our website said the Canadian formula for Ovaltine is now made and supplied from Thailand.-- If true..that sure doesn't inspire confidence in me