Health Canada rules: Red tape or healthy caution?

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Dana Flavelle

OKAY IN THE USA

The food industry says the U.S. products at left make claims or contain ingredients that are not permitted in Canada. The Smart Balance margarine contains cholesterol-lowering plant sterols, an ingredient Unilever Canada says it has been trying for 10 years to introduce in Canada without success. Quaker Oats oatmeal makes a direct claim to reduce the risk of heart disease, a claim that wouldn't be allowed in Canada. Kellogg's K2O drink, fortified with protein, and Ocean Spray Cranergy, with green tea extracts and vitamin B, can't be sold in Canada because only prescribed foods, such as milk, can be fortified with prescribed ingredients, such as vitamin D, the industry says.

CONTROLLED IN CANADA

The food industry says Minute Maid orange juice with calcium is an example of a product that took much longer and cost much more to win regulatory approval in Canada than the U.S., because of Health Canada's outdated and confusing rules. At one point, classified as a drug, it had to be transported in vehicles separate from other food items, the industry says. The Activia and DanActive brands of yogurt and Burnbrae Omega-3 eggs are examples of foods that are not allowed to make any claims about the health benefits of their added ingredients. Burnbrae Farms says it got around that problem by promoting the benefits indirectly through dieticians and doctors, who eventually spread the word to consumers. But it was a long, slow process.

 

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Omega-3 eggs, orange juice with calcium, heart healthy margarine: They all sound like products that are good for you.

Indeed, the multibillion-dollar food industry says aging baby boomers and health-conscious consumers are increasingly looking to food that promises to enhance and prolong their lives.

But Canada's confusing and outdated food regulations prevent the industry from bringing other similar products to market or directly advertising their merits to consumers, the food industry says.

"Canada is lagging further and further behind other countries," said Nancy Croitoru, president and chief executive of Food and Consumer Products of Canada.

The food industry estimates the size of the market for so-called "functional" foods that promote health is between $3 billion and $12 billion in Canada.

But the industry says its ability to serve this market is severely limited despite rising health-care costs and growing awareness of the role diet and nutrition can play in preventing disease.

The industry plans to release a report today that cites 12 examples of products that either cost more or took longer to bring to market than in comparable countries, or were eventually abandoned in Canada.

The additional red tape and lost sales cost the industry $440 million, according to the study by the George Morris Centre in Guelph.

Health Canada defended its regulations yesterday, saying they're designed to protect the health and safety of Canadians. However, the department was unable to provide further details yesterday, saying it needed "a little more time" to provide a response.

A public health advocacy group said the food industry could do far more to improve consumers' health by removing the excessive amounts of salt, sugar and trans fats found in processed products.

"I suspect the push for more liberalization in (health) claims and vitamin fortification is really about making minor changes to food and overblown marketing claims about them," said Bill Jeffrey, national co-ordinator with the Centre for Science in the Public Interest, in Ottawa.

Food industry executives say their product health claims are backed by scientific research that has been accepted by other countries, including the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland and Japan.

"This isn't about gimmicks," said the report's author Larry Martin.

The food industry also says it's working to reduce the amount of salt, trans fat and other such ingredients in their products.

"We want some simple things. We want a political champion. We recognize that overhauling the Food and Drug Act would take forever. So we're asking for things like a transparent, efficient, approval process," Croitoru said.

Toronto Star

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