Lousy labels on popular products; Cineplex clarifying online fees: CBC's Marketplace cheat sheet

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Why Canada Dry's 'made from real ginger' claim isn't on U.S. cans

Emily Scott grew up drinking ginger beer in the Caribbean, so when her son brought some Canada Dry Ginger Ale over, she thought she'd give it a go.

But after the first sip, she noticed the crisp, intense flavour she was expecting was missing. 

A closer look at the product's ingredient list revealed something else was missing too: "Sure enough, there was no ginger mentioned at all," Scott said.

She was shocked, given the can is clearly labelled as being "made from real ginger."

"I thought, 'Well, here's another example of false or misleading information on packages,'" said Scott.

But if she were sipping a Canada Dry in the U.S., she might have been less surprised. The American version of the same can paints a much clearer picture of what is — and isn't — inside.

In the United States, the claim that Canada Dry Ginger Ale is  "made from real ginger" was removed following a class-action settlement in 2019. 

Despite similar litigation in Canada, the claim was not removed from Canadian cans as it was not part of a settlement

Court documents from a Canadian class-action lawsuit claimed there is just one drop of ginger extract in about 70 cans of Canada Dry. The ginger extract in Canada Dry is derived from ginger root and called ginger oleoresin.

Amy Proulx, who has worked in the industrial food space for over a decade, says ginger oleoresin is made from ginger root, and "at one point in the production, it was real ginger."

Canada Dry told Marketplace it hasn't changed the label in Canada because "it still accurately describes the product as it is formulated," and that all of its products are compliant with U.S. and Canadian regulations.

With respect to the changes made to the U.S. product packaging, Canada Dry told Marketplace it agreed to make the changes to "avoid costly and protracted litigation." Read more.

• Watch Marketplace's full investigation,"Lousy Labels: What's in our food?," anytime on YouTube or CBC Gem.

Cineplex says it will make online purchase fee more obvious following penalty

Cineplex Inc. says it will continue adding a fee to some online ticket purchases but will adjust how the charge is communicated to moviegoers.

The move comes in response to a $38.9-million penalty Cineplex was handed in September by Canada's Competition Tribunal in a case alleging the way the company presented online booking fees to consumers constituted deceptive marketing.

"They were not really questioning the absolute fee. What they were questioning is how it was on the website," Cineplex chief executive Ellis Jacob said in an interview on Wednesday.

"It was all about the presentation, and they've asked us to make some modifications, which we are co-operating with them [on] and moving forward."

Jacob said he expects the modifications to be complete by early next year. The company will make it more obvious that Cineplex has been charging a $1.50 online booking fee since June 2022 to customers not enrolled in its CineClub subscription and Scene+ loyalty programs, which see the fee waived and dropped to $1, respectively.

The Competition Bureau, which triggered a battle with Cineplex before the tribunal, has long maintained the charge misleads theatregoers because they are not immediately provided with the full price of a movie ticket when they purchase seats online.

Cineplex, however, disagrees and announced in October it's appealing the penalty, saying moviegoers are promptly told about fees they may face and can avoid them altogether by purchasing seats in-person at a theatre. Read more.

Government bans TikTok from operating in Canada — but Canadians can still use it

Citing national security concerns, the federal government has ordered TikTok to shutter its Canadian operations — but users will still be able to access the popular video app.

Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne said the decision to wind down TikTok's two Canadian offices — in Toronto and Vancouver —  was based on information that surfaced during a national security review, and the advice of Canada's security and intelligence community.

"We came to the conclusion that these activities that were conducted in Canada by TikTok and their offices would be injurious to national security," he told CBC News.

"I'm not at liberty to go into much detail, but I know Canadians would understand when you're saying the government of Canada is taking measures to protect national security, that's serious."

The statement stressed that the government is not blocking Canadians from accessing the app or using it to create content. 

"The decision to use a social media application or platform is a personal choice," the statement said.

But Champagne urged Canadians to use TikTok "with eyes wide open." Critics have claimed that TikTok users' data could be obtained by the Chinese government.

"Obviously, parents and anyone who wants to use social platform should be mindful of the risk," he said.

The decision was made in accordance with the Investment Canada Act, which allows for the review of foreign investments that may harm Canada's national security.

TikTok has long maintained that its servers are outside of China and beyond the control of the Chinese Communist Party, and that it follows Canadian data protection and privacy laws. Read more.

What else is going on?

Various breads and buns recalled due to pieces of metal: CFIA
37 affected products were sold in Ontario, Quebec and N.L.

Legion branches struggle to keep doors open with rising costs, aging membership
Royal Canadian Legion presidents across Canada say income hasn't kept up with rising costs.

A year after Quebec banned flavoured vapes, has anything changed?
The province outlawed the sale of all vaping liquid flavours other than tobacco in 2023 to curb their appeal for young people. But some say the move has had little effect on consumption.

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