5:00 p.m. Cross Border Shopping Caution

Back to school is just around the corner and you may be considering a cross border-shopping trip in search of bargains.

If you do, please remember that just because Canada is bound by a Free Trade agreement, not everything you buy in the U.S. is duty free. It has to be made in the United States, Canada or Mexico. If it's made in China or elsewhere you'll pay duty.

Taxes and duty are a consideration too. For same day trips there are no exemptions. If you cross over the border, shop then come back, not only may you have to pay duty, you also could be asked to pay GST and PST on top of the sales taxes you paid in the states.

If you are down for 24 hours, you can bring back $50 worth of goods tax and duty free. For 48 hours the amount has recently doubled to $400 dollars, and after 7 days, it rises to $750 per person.

Another reminder: don't take any food with you -- many foods are banned -- even ones grown in the USA.

Carry proper ID for everyone in the car. That would include a birth certificate, driver's license, and passport.

If children traveling with you aren't your own, or if it's a divorce situation, you need copies of legal custody documents and a letter of authorization from the other parent to take the child out of the country.

 It's to prevent child abduction cases. For more information go to the Canada Border Services Agency website.

And one final note, last year more than 50,000 vehicles came into Canada through one of our four Lower Mainland border crossings over the Labor Day weekend. So you can expect traffic line-ups.

6:00 p.m. Taking a bite out of Granola Bars.

What began as a bit of a fad, is now part of every day life: people regularly buy organic products.

Our test product at the PNE today was chewy granola bars. One was organic the other wasn't

We pitted organic Nature's Path Organic Chewy Granola Bars against Quaker Chewy Granola bars. Both were the chocolate chip flavour.

Nature's Path, a B.C. company, is one of the most significant players in the organic market.

But even with organics products, you still need to read nutrition labels.

"You want to make sure that sugar isn't your first ingredients; you want whole grains to be your first ingredients," explained Heather McColl a registered dietitian at Save-On Foods.

Starting in December, a new Canadian Organic symbol will start appearing on boxes of organic products. To be certified organic, it must contain 95 percent organic ingredients.

"But really it comes down to what's actually in the product; is it healthy choice or not so healthy choice," cautioned McColl.

In our test, "A" was the organic Nature's Path and "B" was the Quaker.

On taste alone, it was split right down the middle 50 percent preferred Nature's Path, and 50 percent liked the Quaker.

But there is another major difference besides taste.

We also asked people if they would be willing to pay 10 to 15 percent more for an organic product and 53 percent said "yes."

While the organic product is wheat-free, the box carries a warning that it "may contain traces of peanuts, tree nuts or soy."

The Quaker product may not be organic but it is made in a peanut free facility -- that's important for those with allergies or for parents packing a lunch for places where peanuts are banned.

A huge company like Quaker can dedicate a single plant or two to be peanut free because it has many plants. It can also make peanut free products for other companies.

In the case of Nature's Path, it only has two plants, one in Delta and the other in Blaine, Washington.

It just isn't large enough, yet, to have a peanut free facility.

With a report by CTV British Columbia's Chris Olsen.