I can start. There is a lot of information in your comments and questions, but I'll do my best.
In terms of the data we've presented today, the goal is really to say that this is a complex issue. I think everybody can appreciate that around the table. It would be a disservice to Canadians to villainize one factor, one industry, or to try to come up with a magic bullet solution based on general opinion and informal observation, as opposed to what the facts are really telling us about Canadian eating habits.
While I'm on the issue of the data, I want to come back to the StatsCan study on caloric intake that my fellow witness took issue with. Yes, the study does point out differences between the two surveys in 1972 and 2004, but if I may quote from it, it says:
While the 2004 data cannot be strictly compared with those for 1970-1972 (National Health and Welfare 1997), an examination of results from the two surveys suggests that Canadians’ calorie consumption has not increased. On the contrary, initial findings suggest that the trend is down among males aged 12 to 64, and essentially stable among women and older men (Table 1). This is counter to the situation in the United States, where calorie intake rose between 1971-1974 and 1995-2000.
I don't want to get into a he-said-she-said, but it's to the point that it's a complex issue, and there's a lot of information out there that the committee needs to consider.
In terms of advances being made in the food service industry, again we can look at the growth in the healthier menu items that are out there now, the investments that restaurants have made to respond to consumer demand for healthier, lighter, leaner, menu options. We are seeing change in menu patterns, in what consumers are ordering at restaurants.