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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.

 

How Fast Will I Get My Order?

All orders are subject to a processing time and a transit time. The processing time is the time it takes to gather the products for your order and box/palletize them. The processing time depends on the type of product and quantity. The transit time is the time it takes the carrier to deliver the order when it ships out.

  • Retail format orders (Individual portions, cans, jars, small boxes, etc.) are normally processed within 48 hours.
  • Wholesale format orders (Wholesale bags, boxes, cases, pallets, drums, totes, etc.) are normally processed within 2 weeks.
  • Special orders (All products marked as Special Order) are normally processed within 3-4 weeks.
  • 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.

The delivery standards listed below are the maximum average transit times. This means that the majority of packages will be delivered within that delay. As the distance increases there is more possibility for delays, but from the experience we've acquired we can say that you shouldn't be too worried.

  • Within Quebec & Ontario (Excluding remote areas): 1 to 3 business days.
  • Rest of Canada: 2 to 7 business days.

 

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 occasionally 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. These products are certified by us as meeting the CFIA definition of "Gluten-Free".
  • 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 occasionally 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%.
  • See bottom of this page for our "Medical Advice Disclaimer"

 

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.

 

Why was my credit card was denied but I still see the charge on my credit card bill?

There are 2 issues to discuss in this answer:

  • Why was my credit card denied?
    • Our payment system can return the following errors: Insufficient funds, Invalid or expired payment method (CVV fail or expired card), Bank blocking the transaction, postal code check fail.
      • Insufficient funds: Check with your credit card provider, sometimes transactions do not show up on your bill but they do count for your credit card limit.
      • Invalid or expired payment method: Check your card's expiration date and that you correctly entered your CVV number. Our system has anti-fraud measures that reject incorrect CVV numbers.
      • Bank blocking the transaction: Banks occasionally block a transaction that they think might be fraudulent. For example if you always shop locally and make small transactions and suddenly you order a pallet from us, they might block it. Just contact your bank to authorize it.
      • Postal code check fail: This is the most common error we see clients contacting us. This error occurs when your billing address entered in our system does not match your credit card's billing address. Have a look at one of your credit card statements and enter the address exactly as shown.
  • Why do I see the charge on my credit card bill?
    • First, check where the charge is shown. There are 2 kinds of charges on your credit card: Authorized but not posted (Pending) and Posted.
      • Authorized but not posted (Pending): A pending transaction is any transaction that has been authorized by the bank but has yet to be posted to your account. For example, let’s say you use your credit card to buy $500 of grain. The pending transaction will show up in your account immediately, but the funds won’t be transferred from your bank account to us until the transaction posts. Any transaction that fails the CVV or postal code check will not be posted. It will remain in your Authorized but not posted (Pending) and then disappear.
      • Posted: A posted transaction is a completed transaction that has been fully processed and we have successfully accepted the funds. Your order is then confirmed and you will receive an email confirming this.

 

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Medical Advice Disclaimer

The information, including but not limited to, text, graphics, images and other material contained on this website are for informational purposes only. No material on this site is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified healthcare provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or treatment and before undertaking a new health care regimen, and never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website.