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Sask. minister in a jam over U.K. berry ban
Last Updated Tue, 08 Jun 2004 17:45:38

REGINA - A dispute over a little Canadian berry looked to be escalating 
into a major transatlantic jam on Tuesday, as Saskatchewan's 
agriculture minister threatened retaliation against the U.K. over a 
food warning.

Britain's Food Standard Agency has taken saskatoon berry products off 
store shelves and ordered a full pre-market safety evaluation, saying 
there's no evidence the berries are safe to eat.

Saskatchewan's agriculture minister Mark Wartman said the Royal Family 
eat saskatoons when they visit, and if the berries are good enough for 
the royals, they should be good enough for commoners.

FROM MAY 7, 2004: Britain plucks saskatoon berries from store shelves 
Wartman said his government has written to the federal government 
asking for "steps to be taken."

But taking his cue from the famous Boston Tea Party that marked the 
American Revolution, he threatened more radical action could be taken 
in Regina.

"If it really comes down to it, we're thinking of having a special time 
out in Wascana Harbour, where we may be dumping tea – English Breakfast 
tea – and we could be dumping steak-and-kidney pie … We could be 
dumping HP Sauce …," Wartman said.

"We're not going to take this lying down," he warned.

The saskatoon berry is the small purple fruit of a shrub found in North 
America, particularly in the northwest of Canada, and has been grown 
commercially since the late 1960s.

Widely used for centuries by aboriginals, the berries are used in 
Canada for things such as jam, pie and cider. Canadian officials insist 
they are safe to eat.

The fruit is exported to the United States and Japan but has no history 
of consumption in Europe.

http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2004/06/08/canada/berry040608