An independent sausage maker in Windsor is incensed over an allegation sausages contain meat not on the label.
The concern comes after a recent study from the University of Guelph found 14% of sausages sold in grocery stores in Ontario, Quebec and Western Canada continue to contain meat not declared on the label — a similar study two-years-ago found 20% of sausages sampled had been mislabelled.
Robbie Bournais of Robbie's Gourmet Sausage Company told AM800 listeners it's not true of his products, which are supplied to local restaurants.
"I can tell you 100% that the meat we use comes distributed from Brenner's and locally from Weston's Abatoir, which only sources locally Ontario raised pork. We only use the shoulder," says Bournais who addressed the issue on the Lynn Martin Show Thursday.
Bournais says he's very careful what goes into his sausages.
"We cut out all the bone fragments and fat and veins and all the disgusting stuff that they use to make the larger profits, we take it out so we run the risk of running a higher cost product but you know exactly what you're getting with the highest quality meats," he says.
He goes on to say the study results are an example of why consumers should buy local.
"I'm building trust between myself and my customers or local butchers and our customers and that's the only reason I really called today. I was going to let it go, but then I heard [callers] on the [Lynn Martin] show earlier say this is why we don't eat sausages and it just broke my heart," he added.
The federally funded study looked at 100 sausages collected from grocery stores in Ontario, Quebec and Western Canada — all of which were labelled as a single type of meat.