Health Committee on June 8th, 2010

[The Chair, Conservative, Joy Smith]

Please be very quick.

[Michelle Boudreau]

I would like to highlight something to the committee, or perhaps even make a correction. It was stated by one of the witnesses that under the NHP regulations, there was no assessment done of these products. I want to assure you that this is not correct.

In fact, there's a full assessment done, a pre-market assessment, which would not be done in any other country where these products are regulated as food. The fact that they are regulated as drugs gives these products a stricter or more complete regulatory oversight. The safety, quality, and efficacy are all looked at prior to a licence being issued.

As well, the surveillance mechanism was referred to. Yes, we do continue to look at the adverse reaction reports, and we promote the consideration of those reports by medical professionals and others through mechanisms that I mentioned before. We will continue to do that.

[The Chair, Conservative, Joy Smith]

Thank you, Ms. Boudreau.

Now we'll have Monsieur Dufour.

[Nicolas Dufour, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

Ms. Boudreau, thank you as well. I just wanted to quickly add, continuing in the same vein as Mr. Carie, that people seem to think that the monitoring of caffeine-containing products was perhaps where Health Canada failed. If I understood correctly, studies are being conducted on an international scale. For instance, the Red Bull company sells its products in many countries, including those of the European Union.

I know my question is along the same lines as Ms. Boudreau's comments, but I would like to know, Mr. Godefroy, what you think of the evaluation done of these products.

[Dr. Samuel Godefroy]

Are you talking about the presence of caffeine in food in general? The presence of caffeine in food in general is addressed in consumption studies. It was taken into consideration when we conducted our exposure analysis. Before permitting caffeine to be added to carbonated drinks other than cola beverages, we estimated the overall exposure to caffeine from all sources, and especially from carbonated drinks. This information is derived mainly from consumption data we have collected.

[Nicolas Dufour, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

That is when you set the limit to five cans. Companies like Red Bull, for instance, took it one step further by recommending that consumers not exceed two cans a day. Is my understanding correct?

[Dr. Samuel Godefroy]

Health Canada did not recommend that carbonated drinks be consumed...

[Nicolas Dufour, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

I understand, but—

[Dr. Samuel Godefroy]

I am repeating Health Canada's recommendation. The Canada Food Guide recommends that we opt for other drinks as our beverages of choice. That being said, those who choose to consume carbonated drinks containing caffeine should monitor their daily caffeine dietary intake.

The idea here is that a healthy adult should not exceed 400 mg of caffeine a day. For a pregnant woman or a woman of childbearing age, the limit drops to 300 mg. Children's intake should be monitored even more carefully, as they are more sensitive to caffeine. As we said earlier, the maximum recommended intake for children can be as low as 40 mg or 45 mg.

[Nicolas Dufour, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Mr. Sherwood, you made an interesting comment at the beginning of your presentation. You said that it was not to the advantage of any of the parties involved to refuse to cooperate in ensuring that the information is provided.

Can you elaborate on this thought regarding industry? I know that industry had to cooperate with Health Canada, so that the agency could collect information. Do you have any other ideas that could be of interest?

[Justin Sherwood]

Things that we have done in the past include partnering with our retail partners to distribute point-of-sale information based on Health Canada's fact sheets on the appropriate use of energy drinks. We have provided guidance to clerks and store owners on the appropriate use of these products.

Another component is encouraging consumers to factor in their caffeine from all sources. As Andreas from Red Bull said, the challenge is not the 10% of caffeine that comes from other beverages such as soft drinks or energy drinks, but the vast array of caffeine that occurs in other food sources.

[Nicolas Dufour, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

I would like to know which age group accounts for the majority of energy drink users. You must have conducted market studies.

[Justin Sherwood]

The target market is young adults who are 18 to 34 years old.

[Nicolas Dufour, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

This particular age group buys your products the most.

[Justin Sherwood]

That's the target market.

[Nicolas Dufour, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Okay, thank you.

Mr. Kadi, you talked about studies conducted on an international scale. I would like to know if, in your opinion—this question is also for Mr. Godefroy—Canadian regulations are more or less stringent compared with international regulations. Are there things we could improve on? Otherwise, are there any major differences between Canada and the European Union?

[Andreas Kadi]

Yes, you are more stringent. I think this was explained already.

In Canada, these products fall under the category of natural health products; they are not foods, as they are in all the other countries where we sell. I understand that there were good reasons for putting these products in there in 2004. This made it possible to sell them under the regulatory environment in Canada.

It is important to do safety assessments in Canada, but it is also important to see what is available in other parts of the world, to see what has been done. I have mentioned the safety assessment done by—

[The Chair, Conservative, Joy Smith]

Thank you, Mr. Kadi. You're way over time right now so you're going to have to wrap up.

Ms. McLeod.

[Cathy McLeod, Conservative, Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

First, I would like to thank all the witnesses for coming here today.

I believe the national reality is probably not unlike the reality in my household. We adults drank coffee, and then all of a sudden when my children were about 14, these cans started arriving. I assumed they were safe because they were buying them in convenience stores. We talk about 80% of the consumption being from coffee, but I think that among young people from 12 to 20 most caffeine is coming from these energy drinks.

I did some quick calculations and I want to know if I'm understanding this right. If the recommended dose is no more than 2.5 milligrams per kilo, between 12 and 20 years of age, let's say, you can have young girls that are probably in that range. The other thing I've heard is that energy drinks can range from 50 milligrams to 150 milligrams in that 473-millilitre can.

If you do the first calculation, you have a young girl between 13 and 20 who perhaps weighs 80 or 90 pounds and maybe a little more and her recommended level should be no more than 100 milligrams a day. If you have a 150-milligram can even by consuming one can, never mind putting in alcohol or anything else, she has exceeded what is appropriate. I'll leave that open for general conversation.

[The Chair, Conservative, Joy Smith]

Ms. Boudreau.

[Michelle Boudreau]

Thank you.

Yes, I think what you have pointed out is the difficulty in arriving at a dose or a recommended dose. In fact, that is why the current labelling for these products is that the products are not recommended for children.

One of the things we're looking at, because we do get that question—and I'm sure all of us will sometimes ask ourselves that question—is this: what are children? That is precisely what I think you are pointing out. A child who may be my size, is that a child? Or even though they may be 16 or 17.... Or if it's a person with some significant weight and stature, even though they might be 14, does that make a difference?

What you have pointed out is some of the difficulty that we have in the labelling around these products. In fact, that is why we've taken the broad approach of simply saying that these products are not recommended for children.

One of the things we are looking at now within the directorate is ways to clarify what is meant by “children” to better enable parents to read that information and know whether it is appropriate for the young girl or a larger person, depending on their age.

[Cathy McLeod, Conservative, Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC]

I have a quick comment there. As a mother, I probably had no idea that it was not recommended for my 14-year-old or 15-year-old daughter, and I think my daughter, given the sort of psyche of the adolescent, probably wouldn't have thought twice about it. So how are we going to deal with this issue? Because it is an issue.

[Michelle Boudreau]

Again, I think you have raised something we are quite aware of at Health Canada, particularly within the directorate. There have been a few comments made that I would just bring back to you. There was a suggestion made by Dr. Sweet regarding involving others in what he referred to as the regulation of these products.

In fact, one of the things we are looking at in the directorate is bringing people around the table to ask how we do get to properly communicating the safe use of these products, precisely as you've set out. How do we educate people to be more aware of their caffeine consumption generally, whether it is within this type of product or all product classes? This is something that we're looking at and, very much has been suggested here today, we're looking at bringing in others in order to be able to have that discussion, so that we're not having it in a vacuum.

Similarly, Refreshments Canada referred to an awareness campaign or something that they would like to do to, again, promote safe use, and that is something we have also begun to discuss with Refreshments Canada, only as one body, because again, there may be others that would be very helpful.

I think that what we have done at Health Canada to date is that we have created some information that is helpful. When you look at the “It's Your Health” letters and the “Canadian Adverse Reaction Newsletters”, the question now is, how do we further disseminate that information? How do we put it in the hands of parents, consumers, and young individuals, etc., so that they can make those choices appropriately? That is some of the discussion that we're beginning to have.

[The Chair, Conservative, Joy Smith]

Thank you, Ms. Boudreau.

We'll now go to Dr. Duncan.

[Kirsty Duncan, Liberal, Etobicoke North, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I think we need to pay attention. This is more than education. As Ms. McLeod has rightly pointed out, when you look at the numbers, one drink sometimes puts a child over the recommended dose. If we look at Mr. Shepherd's son, it was his first drink, and ultimately he died.

There is a problem with a lack of research. I can go through numerous research questions for which there are no answers.

This is the extreme, but I'm wondering if you can tell us how many deaths have been linked or linked in part to consumption of energy drinks in Australia, Canada, the European Union, and the United States. In each case, what was the drink, the content, and the concentration of caffeine, and what was the number of drinks consumed? Because my time ran out before, I will leave you to answer that.

For my other question, you've told us that our regulations are much stricter than those of other countries. I'd like to know how Canada's regulation of energy drinks compares with, for example, that of Denmark, France, and Norway. I'll start with that.