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Frequently Asked Questions

How Do I Make A Purchase On OnlineOrganics.ca?

At Online Organics, we offer regular checkout for credit cards and Interac eTransfer for debit card purchases.

 

Where Are You Located And Can I Pick Up My Purchase In Person?

We are located in Otterburn Park, QC. It is about 40 minutes from Montreal. If you happen to be close to us, you can come pick up your online order.

 

Do You Accept Other Forms Of Payment ?

We accept cash for pickup as long as there isn't any special order items in the order.

 

Will You Send Me A Receipt For My Purchases?

As soon as you pay for your item, we will email you a sales receipt with a detailed bill of the items purchased and purchase price. We will also email you as soon as your product has been shipped.

 

When Can I Expect My Order?

Retail format orders are normally ready within 24 hours while wholesale bags can take up to one week. Some products have longer lead times depending on quantity ordered and availability. We strive to provide fresh local products and will often have small weekly shipments of flour, grain, flakes and spices to get the freshest products for you. We try our best to minimize time products are sitting in a warehouse.

 

Why Don't You Sell Your Products On eBay and/or Amazon?

Between the very high fees they charge (about 15%) and the poor working conditions of employees we do not want to encourage them.

 

Are your Products 100% Organic?

  • The short answer is yes, continue reading for the full explanation...
  • In Canada, USA & the European Union, to market a product as "Organic" it must contain at least 95% organic ingredients. Anything under 95% can be labelled as "Made with Organic _____" but not simply "Organic".
  • Anything between 95%-99% organic must be clearly listed in the ingredients. Moreover the 5% non-organic ingredients cannot be anything. The non-organic ingredients that can legally go into foods labeled as "Organic" have to be listed in the "National List of Inorganic products". A perfect example is organic bread. Since it is marketed as "Organic" it must contain 95% or more organic ingredients. But like we said, not 5% of anything. In the case of organic bread, conventional yeast is allowed. So your bread might be approximately 99% organic.
  • So back to our products. All our products that contain only one ingredient are 100% organic. Anything under 100% would not be allowed.
  • Some of our multi-ingredient products contain non-organic ingredients. The most common conventional ingredients are: Yeast, xanthan gum, guar gum and natural flavors. All non-organic ingredients are clearly listed on the label.
  • If you would like to read more about the subject below are the most common regulations that organic products must follow:

 

What is Your Level of Gluten-Free Certification?

  • Celiac customers make a sizeable portion of our clientele and we value their trust in our products. While many companies simply say "Gluten-Free" without any more detail, reality is much more complex.
  • Our products are split into 3 levels of gluten certification:
    • "Gluten Present": As the title says this product has gluten inside the product. The level of gluten varies depending on the product. Some celiacs can consume gluten depending on the quantity and type. For example, KAMUT and soft wheat flours have typically less gluten than hard wheat flours.
    • "Naturally Gluten-Free": These products do not contain gluten but aren't certified. A perfect example is our regular rolled oats. That is because although oats themselves don't contain gluten, they're often grown alongside other crops. The same equipment is typically used to harvest crops in neighboring fields, which leads a possibility of cross-contamination if one of those crops contains gluten. This level of certification suits most of our celiac clients. Some of our products in this category are simply not tested by the producer. Most of our spices fall into this category.
    • "Gluten-Free Certified": These products meet the CFIA specifications to be officially labelled as gluten-free. "<20ppm" is a way of expressing very dilute concentrations of gluten. Just as per cent (%) means out of a hundred, parts per million (ppm) means out of a million. "<20ppm" is a very low level of gluten and this makes up the majority of all gluten-free products sold worldwide.
  • As the level of certification goes up so does the cost. Having separate equipment and facilities for handling as well as buffer zones in fields for production has its cost. Every celiac is different with some individuals having discomfort when consuming gluten based flours but no reaction with "Naturally gluten-free" products to individuals having heavy allergic reactions to anything above 20ppm.
  • There is no such thing as 0ppm. A company making this claim is simply oversimplifying how gluten certification works. There is always an error margin in testing that is why "<20ppm" is considered under the level of detection per CFIA regulations. Remember that "<20ppm" is <20/1,000,000 or <0.002%.

 

Why is some of my food discolored?

  • This is what real authentic organic food is supposed to look like.
  • Commercial non-organic cultures will have nicer more perfect products; just like organic vs non-organic apples for example.
  • These are plant diseases that happen when you have organic cultures. There is always 1% of your crop that is going to be battling a disease, its what nature intended!
  • If you zoom into our product pictures, you will always be able to spot one item that is not perfect.
  • If you don't believe us you can read an article called ''Scouting for Common Soybean Seed Diseases'' published by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).

 

What is your opinion on expiration dates?

  • All our products include a packaging date and expiration date. It is a common misconception that all food products should have an expiration date. In Canada under the Canadian Food Inspection Agency regulations expiration dates are not required for products with a shelf life of more than 90 days. This means all our products with very few exceptions are not required to display expiration dates.
  • Because we believe in being fully transparent and offering complete information on our products we include packaging and expiration dates on all our products.
  • We have a partnership with a local food bank for overstock and expired products. Some almost expired or barely expired products are sold on our store but exclusively though our "Super Specials" page.
  • Storage conditions make a huge difference in shelf life. Following our recommended storage guidelines is the key to a long shelf life.
  • Below are three very important sections from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency website:
    • ''Foods with an anticipated shelf life greater than 90 days are not required to be labelled with a best-before date or storage information. This is because these foods are generally considered to be shelf stable. Examples include most canned foods, many dry foods such as pasta and foods that are sold in a frozen state.''
    • ''Best-before dates are not indicators of food safety, neither before nor after the date. You can buy and eat foods after the best-before date has passed. However, when this date has passed, the food may lose some of its freshness and flavour, or its texture may have changed. Some of its nutritional value may be lost.''
    • ''It is not illegal to sell a product if its best-before date has passed. However, when this date has passed, the food may lose some of its freshness and flavour, or its texture may have changed. Some of its nutritional value, such as vitamin C content, may also be lost.''
    • Source: Canadian Food Inspection Agency: Date labelling on pre-packaged foods

 

Is there Glyphosate in your products?

  • Glyphosate is prohibited in organic products in COR (Canada), NOP (USA) and EU organic standards. There is no acceptable cross-contamination allowed for organic certified products.
  • That said, some products, especially grains sometimes get cross contaminated. That is why before accepting a lot at the mill or processor, lots are tested for contamination. Contaminated lots are rejected and the supplier gets blacklisted. Since being blacklisted in a relatively small market like organic products is a big thing, suppliers tend to be very careful to preserve their reputation.
  • If you are worried about your glyphosate intake, know that CFIA (Canadian Food Inspection Agency) standards allow from 5ppm to 15ppm of glyphosate in conventional (non-organic) products. For organic certified products, that limit is 0.01ppm which is 500-1500 times lower.
  • Consuming organic certified products is the best widely available way to keep your glyphosate consumption down as well as all other pesticides and herbicides.
  • Source: Canadian Food Inspection Agency: Glyphosate in Canada
  • Source: American Chemical Society: Analysis of Glyphosate Residues in Foods from the Canadian Retail Markets between 2015 and 2017
  • Source: Canada Organic Trade Association: Glyphosate Residue in Canada

 

Why is tax on some of your products?

  • This is actually a very complicated question that is not easily answered. There are whole lists of rules and exceptions.
  • Basic grocery items are not taxed in Canada. Detailed information on this can be found in the "GST/HST memorandum 4.3 - Basic Groceries" from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).
  • Exceptions to the basic grocery list can be found in the "GST/HST Info Sheet GI-21 - Snack Foods" from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).
  • Snack foods are split into 4 categories:
    • Salty and savoury snack foods.
    • Salted nuts or salted seeds.
    • Granola products.
    • Snack Mixtures.
  • A myriad of other exceptions exist depending on format, ingredients, marketing, etc.
  • Imported products are taxed according to their HS Code. This is a code that is given to any product that is imported in Canada. Zero taxed products are already codified in that list. You can consult the full HS code list by visiting the "HS Nomenclature 2022 edition" from the World Customs Organization (WCO).
  • To conclude, it is not a simple matter but we have experts to determine each of our product's correct tax rate.

 

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