Kitchener Market using MyPick program to prevent food fraud

With food fraud a growing concern among Canadians, the Kitchener Market is relying on the MyPick verification program to ensure customers get what they think they're buying.

The market joined the MyPick program about six years ago, Kitchener Market manager Kim Feere, told The Morning Edition's host Craig Norris.

The program is run by Farmers' Markets Ontario, which sends inspectors to a seller's farm to check receipts andacreage and then compares that with what's been offered on the market floor.

"[This]helps level the playing field for familyfarmers trying to compete with resellers who try to pass offcheap food terminal sell-offs as just-picked, farm-fresh food," says the MyPickOntario website.

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Sellers also have to prove to market staff if they're claiming to be organic, that the producer has been certified as such, and that baked goods come from inspected kitchens.

To hear more about the measures taken by the Kitchener Market to prevent food fraud, including how the market handles food resellers, listen to the audio below.