Thank you very much.
Good afternoon. It is a pleasure to be here on behalf of the Canadian Cardiovascular Society to speak to you about the need for action on the elimination of trans fats for all segments of the Canadian population.
My name is Anne Ferguson, and I am the CEO of the CCS. I am not a cardiologist, but I represent the perspective of over 1,600 Canadian cardiovascular medical specialists and researchers who are members of this organization.
Senator Wilbert Keon, whom many of you know, is one of Canada's leading cardiovascular specialists and served as president of the CCS from 1988 to 1990. It was Senator Keon, along with another CCS member, Senator Yves Morin, and many others who galvanized action on trans fats. This commitment contributed to the creation of the Trans Fat Task Force and the recently released report that was discussed today.
The CCS is proud to have had one of our members, Dr. Helen Stokes, on this task force. Our membership is very supportive of the final task force recommendations. In addition, we are gratified to see that it was a consensus report.
Today, Senator Keon continues to fully support the recommendations of the task force and in fact hosted the public release of the report.
Mr. Chair, cardiovascular disease inflicts a terrible toll upon the Canadians that CCS members see as patients, as well as their families. This disease continues to be the leading cause of mortality in Canada, representing 32% of all deaths annually. Likely, everyone in this room is close to someone who has been adversely affected by this disease.
Mr. Chair, this terrible toll on their patients is what motivates CCS members to support the eradication of risk factors such as trans fats wherever possible. The CCS is here because trans fats are a serious risk factor unique to heart disease, and we believe strongly that processed trans fats must be removed from our food supply as quickly as possible.
It is estimated that 3,000 Canadians die annually from high consumption of trans fats, which have no intrinsic nutritional benefits other than to provide calories. Metabolic and epidemiologic studies consistently show that trans fats are more harmful than any other type of fat. Trans fats not only increase the blood levels of LDL, or bad cholesterol, but also decrease blood levels of HDL, or good cholesterol. Both effects are associated with increased coronary heart disease. The evidence is overwhelming. There is as much as a sixfold greater risk of heart disease from an increase in dietary trans fats than from increases in dietary saturated fats.
In 2002 the Panel on Macronutrients of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine recommended that trans fat consumption be as low as possible while ensuring a nutritionally adequate diet. At that time, the panel did not set a safe upper limit because the evidence suggests that any rise in trans fat intake increases coronary heart disease risk.
In 2003 the World Health Organization recommended that trans fat intake be limited to less than 1% of overall energy intake, a limit regarded by the WHO as a practical level of intake consistent with public health goals.
And finally, in Canada scientists raised concerns about the detrimental effects of trans fats and the levels in the Canadian diet as far back as 1990. Significant progress has been achieved in certain food categories, such as soft margarines and some snack foods, but there is still so much more to do.
The CCS supports the regulatory approach as the best way to proceed for a number of reasons. We support all the reasons outlined on the top-10 list put out by the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada. I believe that you have received this list. The CCS would also like to add another reason. The Canadian heart health strategy has as one of its driving principles the need to address the tremendous disparities that exist in access to health information, services, and healthy foods amongst Canadians. Regulation is the best and possibly the only way to ensure that the benefits would accrue even to people who cannot read labels, including vulnerable groups with lower incomes and/or lower literacy skills. It is these vulnerable groups who often have a higher risk of coronary heart disease.
The task force recommendations ensure that trans-fat-free products are affordable to all income groups.
Implementation of the task force recommendations will significantly improve the heart health of Canadians and save lives by, first, reducing the average daily intake of trans fats by Canadians of all age groups to less than 1% of energy intake—this is consistent with current dietary recommendations; second, ensuring that all Canadians, particularly those at the highest consumption levels, benefit from the virtual elimination of industrially produced trans fats; and third, promoting the development of adequate supplies of more healthful alternatives to trans fats.
Last October the federal government, in partnership with the CCS and the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, announced the creation of the Canadian heart health strategy. We gratefully acknowledge the leadership of Senator Keon and Mr. Steven Fletcher in this regard. Over the next two years this country's leading experts in cardiovascular disease, along with individuals living with heart disease and stroke, will work together to determine how we can reduce the burden of cardiovascular disease on Canadians, their families, and the health care system. This strategy will consider system change, population health, risk factor reduction, information systems, and aboriginal health.
We are proud to be part of this exciting initiative. Now that this important heart health initiative has been created, there is an opportunity for this government to continue to take a leadership role by taking action to remove trans fats from the diets of Canadians. In doing so, the government will be taking a crucial step to reducing the burden of cardiovascular disease on Canadian patients, their families, and the health care system.
Thank you very much.