Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Evidence of meeting #41 for Health in the 39th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was products.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Evidence of meeting #41 for Health in the 39th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was products.
A recording is available from Parliament.
4:25 p.m.
Conservative
4:25 p.m.
Bloc
Nicole Demers Bloc Laval, QC
Thank you Mr. Chairman.
Good morning ladies and gentlemen. I thank you for your presentations and the information you gave us.
Ms. Beauvais, there is a new Canada's Food Guide. One food category has been eliminated from the Guide. However, among foods that have the Health Check logo you can find products from. PepsiCo, General Mills and Kraft. The majority of these products are part of the two food categories that should be avoided as much as possible, or the one that has been eliminated from the Guide.
Do you find it acceptable that people are encouraged to eat these kinds of food when they should avoid them as much as possible? I am disappointed. By placing the Health Check logo on that food, for instance on Miracle Whip mayo jars, you make people believe that they are eating healthy food.
I do not believe that, in large quantity, that type of food would be very good for your health, wether it is, for example, salted soda crackers made with refined flour or Kool Aid drinks loaded with sugar.
4:25 p.m.
Director General, Health Products and Food Branch, Food Directorate, Department of Health
Health Canada supports Canadians using the nutrition facts panel as the source of information to make their food choices.
As I've mentioned earlier, some of the logos or symbols that we see on packages describe only one aspect of the nutrition in a positive way, but don't describe the less positive or negative attributes of that product. At times it is confusing for the consumer not to understand both the positive and the negative in that logo or symbol. This is why we fully support Canadians reading the facts panel, which provides the full picture of the food product, and making their comparisons in that way.
4:25 p.m.
Bloc
Nicole Demers Bloc Laval, QC
Isn’t it your responsibility to make sure that Canadians are well informed and not just by reading something written in very small print. A logo like Health Check is quite confusing. Are you not confusing people with that kind of logos? If I may, I also would like to ask a question to Mr. Schaeffer.
If I may, I also would like to ask a question to Mr. Schaeffer.
You have accepted to use the traffic light system in the U.K. Here in Canada, only one of your products has the Health Check logo. I would like to know how many of your products will have respectively the red light, the green light or the two green lights in the U.K. I also would like to know if you intend to comply with the new US legislation which has been passed in New York concerning trans fat.
4:30 p.m.
Conservative
4:30 p.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, McCain Foods Canada
There are number of questions there.
Regarding the question that I heard directed to me—which was whether I know how many specific products are here in Canada that would qualify on various criteria in the traffic light labelling system—I have no idea, in all honesty.
4:30 p.m.
Bloc
Nicole Demers Bloc Laval, QC
How many products are labelled with a red light in the U.K?
How many red lights do you have in the United Kingdom?
4:30 p.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, McCain Foods Canada
Honestly, I don't know that answer either.
4:30 p.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, McCain Foods Canada
Could you repeat the question? I'm not sure I understood it.
4:30 p.m.
Bloc
Nicole Demers Bloc Laval, QC
Do you intend to comply with the new US regulations passed in New York for trans fat?
4:30 p.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, McCain Foods Canada
We comply with all regulations. If it's regulated, we comply. It's that simple.
4:30 p.m.
Bloc
Nicole Demers Bloc Laval, QC
Do you intend to apply the same requirements to the products that you sell here, as you are already doing it in the States?
4:30 p.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, McCain Foods Canada
We respect the local requirements of each government. In the United States....
Those are the rules of the game. Canada has certain rules, and the U.S. has certain laws. Would I like them to be one? If that's the question, I can answer that one. But if the question is whether we will respect each local regulation and legislation, the answer is absolutely.
4:30 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Rob Merrifield
The time has gone, but we'll continue with some of the answers for a short time.
So go ahead, Ms. Beauvais.
4:30 p.m.
Director General, Health Products and Food Branch, Food Directorate, Department of Health
Health Canada is committed to the nutrition labelling regulation that we have in place as a source of full, authoritative information for Canadians. However, we are aware that there is a growing confusion for consumers, and if at some point it was thought there was an appropriate role for government, to step in to address this issue, the only way for government to do it mandatorily would be to create another regulation through consultation to govern the use of logos on the front of packages.
Right now there's no ability for Health Canada to intervene in this matter.
4:30 p.m.
Conservative
4:30 p.m.
Conservative
Patricia Davidson Conservative Sarnia—Lambton, ON
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
And thanks very much to our presenters today. As always, it's been very interesting.
My first couple of questions are going to be for Ms. Beauvais.
In some of your remarks you said that since the requirement to list trans fats became mandatory, a number of food companies have reformulated their products to remove it, and the trans fat consumption has dropped by at least 41%. Do you have any idea how many food companies have complied with that, percentage-wise?
4:30 p.m.
Director General, Health Products and Food Branch, Food Directorate, Department of Health
I can't say how many companies percentage-wise, but almost every week there are new announcements of additional companies or restaurants eliminating or reducing trans fats significantly. It's almost hard to keep up at this point.
4:30 p.m.
Conservative
Patricia Davidson Conservative Sarnia—Lambton, ON
I guess what I was wondering is whether, to drop it by at least 41%, we had 50% of companies, or.... Or can we not tabulate that?
4:30 p.m.
Director General, Health Products and Food Branch, Food Directorate, Department of Health
I don't have that information handy.
4:30 p.m.
Conservative
Patricia Davidson Conservative Sarnia—Lambton, ON
Okay.
You also said that the new nutrition labelling regulations allow the user to use over 40 nutrient content claims, and these claims can be used by the manufacturers to bring attention to the positive features in their product. What assurance, then, does the consumer have that those content claims are reliable? Who checks that?