OFFICIALS in Canada have clarified rules over food and drink sales after complaints that they had apparently banned Irn-Bru.

A shop owner in Saskatoon, Canada, was told that he could not sell the product because it contains a banned red colouring.

But the Canadian Food Inspection Agency has now issued a statement saying that the package containing the drink, as well as Marmite, was detained at the border because it contained meat items that did not have the correct documentation.

The agency said: "Irn-Bru and Marmite are not banned for sale in Canada. These products have been available on Canadian store shelves for more than a decade and will continue to be sold in stores across Canada. The CFIA will work with the food seller to ensure they are accessing the correct products, destined for Canadian markets."

Euro MP Alyn Smith said: "I'm glad that this has now been cleared up and our original suspicions that this was just a misunderstanding have been proved correct.

"The retailer who had his stock confiscated had been selling Irn-Bru without a problem since 1997, and it came as quite a shock when he was told that he could do so no longer. It appears now that the Canadian authorities had acted on the basis that other items in the shipment did not have the proper documentation, which resulted in the entire shipment being confiscated.

"This is a victory for common-sense and I'm glad that the CFIA and Canadian Government has clarified this issue."

Briana Pegado, President of the North American Society at the University of Edinburgh, added: "The link between Scotland and North America has always been strong."