Mon Oct 10, 2011 1:08 am
A Rhode Island man faces a federal charge of selling fake Vermont maple syrup.
The case started when a couple from Barre saw an internet ad for Vermont maple syrup. Forty bucks for a gallon seemed like a deal except prosecutors say what they really had bought was basically worthless.
"Anything that says either Vermont or Vermont maple syrup must be 100% maple syrup just derived from sap," says Marckres.
"It came back that is was 100% cane sugar which was a big surprise," says Marckres.
U.S. prosecutors say the man behind the fake syrup is Bernard Coleman of Rhode Island. He faces a federal charge of selling an impure food.
"Absolutely pathetic. You can't get hardly get any worse than that," says Burr Morse, maple syrup producer.
Those might seem like harsh words from Montpelier maple syrup producer Burr Morse. But in a state where maple syrup is a $15-million a year business, Morse says fake syrup dilutes the Vermont brand.
Coleman is expected in be arraigned in U.S. District Court in Burlington next week. Prosecutors say he faces three-years in prison and a quarter-million dollar fine.
Mon Oct 10, 2011 1:15 am
Mon Oct 10, 2011 1:37 am
Mon Oct 10, 2011 9:21 am
"Absolutely pathetic. You can't get hardly get any worse than that," says Burr Morse, maple syrup producer.
Wed Oct 12, 2011 3:59 pm
MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy says he's planning to introduce legislation to make it a federal crime for people to mislabel products as containing maple syrup.
Leahy said Tuesday the legislation is needed to protect Vermont's maple crop from fraud.
The move came in the aftermath of a recent U.S. Food and Drug Administration investigation that found a man who had been selling fake Vermont "maple" syrup, when the product contained no syrup.
Leahy's proposal would create a new federal felony offense and increase the sentences that prosecutors can seek for people who defraud consumers and farmers by intentionally mislabeling maple products.
Leahy, a Democrat, announced his plan at the same time he was announcing the state had received a $70,000 federal grant to help market Vermont maple syrup.
Thu Oct 13, 2011 8:32 am
Fri Oct 14, 2011 3:04 pm