Driscoll’s berries are on many Canadians’ plates and all over Canadian grocery stores, with their tagline claiming to be “only the finest berries.” But a whistleblower lawsuit in California alleges the finest berries were not sent to Canada: instead, millions of pounds of fruit containing non-compliant levels of pesticides and chemicals crossed the border, and the company tried to cover it up. California resident and former Driscoll’s employee David Harada claims in the lawsuit that by Driscoll’s own estimates, about 50 per cent of all shipments to Canada from 2022 to 2024 had fruit that exceeded Canadian safety levels. Harada told CBC he first started noticing problems regarding pesticide safety and over-application in 2022 and reported them immediately to his bosses. He says he brought his concerns to upper management but was told it was something he’d have to manage. “I had a conversation with my director as to whether or not they had plausible deniability regarding this issue,” Harada said. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) confirmed to CBC News it conducted several inspections on Driscoll’s berries sold in grocery stores ... between 2022-24 and found chemical levels above the legal limit in Canada. The chemicals include bifenthrin, iprodione and captan: fungicides and insecticides. Investigations were also triggered after reports of suspected illness after eating Driscoll's blueberries, or by complaints of chemical taste and smell.