Maple syrup expert points to age-old protective laws

An author and forest conservation specialist has expressed his surprise that adulterated products claiming to be organic Canadian maple syrup have been found in his native state of Quebec, highlighting laws which date back over 100 years.

Quebec produces roughly 70% of the world’s maple syrup supply, making it the top global producer.

Peter Kuitenbrouwer – author of ‘Maple Syrup: A Short History of Canada’s Sweetest Obsession’ and a Forest Conservation teacher at the University of Toronto – has written of his astonishment at reports of supermarket product labelled ‘maple syrup’ containing cane sugar.

Writing in The Globe and Mail, Kuitenbrouwer noted that as far back as 1916, laws such as the Adulteration Act in Ottawa have forbidden additives in products claiming maple syrup.

Kuitenbrouwer quoted the Adulteration Act as follows:

“No person shall manufacture for sale, keep for sale, offer or expose for sale, or sell, any article of food resembling or being an imitation of maple sugar or maple syrup or which is composed partly of maple sugar or maple syrup.”

Maple trees grow throughout northeastern North America, but the sugar maple is recognised as thriving best in the rocky, hilly terrain of Quebec. The state is home to over 8,000 maple farms and 13,300 registered producers.

The Quebec Maple Syrup Producers (QMSP) organisation has a hand in promoting the product worldwide, with its activities in countries such as the UK, United States, Japan, India and Germany. Over 100 maple-related research projects have been funded by the QMSP over the last 12 years.