Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you for the opportunity to appear before the committee in its examination of childhood obesity. The committee is certainly to be commended for taking on such an important topic.
My name is Debra Bryanton and I'm the executive director of the food safety directorate with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
As the committee is aware, the CFIA is mandated to safeguard Canada's food supply and the animals and plants upon which safe, high-quality food depends. The CFIA verifies compliance with some 13 federal acts and their respective regulations, including the Food and Drugs Act. The agency works in partnership with other stakeholders to carry out this mandate. Our more important partners are, of course, Health Canada and its portfolio organizations.
The CFIA is committed to serving Canadians by providing protection from preventable health risks, delivery of a fair and effective regulatory regime, sustaining the animal and plant resource base, and promoting the security of Canada's food supply.
With the growing public awareness about the relationship between food choice and health and access to a wide range of information, Canadian consumers are becoming more sophisticated in their food nutrition choices. Information on labels can assist consumers in making healthier choices, adapting their diet to specific needs, and in handling their food safely. Collectively, this contributes to the overall health of the Canadian public.
As noted by Janet Beauvais, the food and drug regulations were amended on January 1, 2003, to require a nutrition facts table on the label of most pre-packaged foods. The new nutrition labelling regulations became mandatory for large companies as of December 12, 2005, and will be mandatory for small companies by December 12, 2007. I must also note that due to the fact that many small companies do supply larger companies, many have already moved ahead with their nutrition information on their labels. The CFIA is responsible for enforcing the implementation of these regulations, and as we approach the end of the first year since the regulations came into effect for large companies, we are happy to report that industry has responded well to the regulatory requirements.
CFIA has taken a staged approach to the implementation of the regulations. In partnership with Health Canada, an industry education program was undertaken providing tools and educational material to assist industry in their efforts to comply with the new regulations.
The CFIA has also developed tools for stakeholders to help facilitate compliance and assist in applying the regulations. This includes, for example, the publication of a guide for food labelling and advertising. This provides policy advice and basic ground rules with respect to labelling and claims. There is also the publication of a nutrition labelling toolkit that provides guidance on the interpretation of nutrition labelling requirements under the food and drug regulations. We will continue to work with stakeholders through responding to their inquiries and providing presentations at industry meetings and seminars at their request, again to promote understanding and compliance.
Childhood obesity is one of the many health issues directly affected by consumer choice in food and nutrition. Public awareness on this issue is growing. No doubt consumers will make choices based in part on the information highlighted on product labels.
CFIA's role relating to the issue of childhood obesity is complementary to the ones of our federal health partners, Health Canada, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, and the Public Health Agency of Canada. We support and will continue to support our health partners in tackling this issue and other public health concerns.
Thank you.