Evidence of meeting #22 for Health in the 40th Parliament, 3rd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was children.
A recording is available from Parliament.
9:45 a.m.
Director General, Natural Health Products Directorate, Department of Health
That is something I would be happy to provide, but I'm not sure we have looked at what you're referring to as a safe level of caffeine and taurine together for that age group—
9:45 a.m.
Director General, Natural Health Products Directorate, Department of Health
May I just finish?
That's because, in fact, the age group is not within the recommended conditions of use that you're referring to.
9:45 a.m.
Liberal
The Vice-Chair Liberal Joyce Murray
Thank you very much. If there are further comments about this, there may be other questions that it fits into appropriately.
Thank you.
Mr. Malo.
9:45 a.m.
Bloc
Luc Malo Bloc Verchères—Les Patriotes, QC
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I understand, based on this morning's testimony, that adding caffeine to carbonated drinks subject to the new regulations does not cause health problems, as adults do not consume caffeine in excess of the acceptable limit.
However, young people are already exceeding that limit in many categories of caffeine consumption, whether we are talking about natural or synthetic caffeine. Quite aside from the issue of whether of not caffeine is being added to other products, the problem involving young people remains unresolved. That is my understanding of what was said.
I also understand that, in response to Health Canada's suggestion to label all products containing natural or synthetic caffeine, the producers and distributors have agreed to label their products to help consumers in determining which ones contain caffeine and in what quantities. That way, they can decide whether a particular product fits into their daily diets.
I am wondering about something, and I would like to ask the producers a question. When will the new labelling policy be introduced? My understanding is also that you intend to put an information campaign together. I would like to know when it will be launched and how you mean to roll out the campaign to directly target the client base that is currently consuming too much caffeine.
9:45 a.m.
President, Refreshments Canada
If you don't mind, I will answer in English.
I am not aware, at this point, of any new non-cola types of caffeinated beverages that are going to be coming into the marketplace as a result of this change.
If I look to the U.S., I can think of one or two other products that are non-cola caffeinated beverages that don't exist in Canada. As far as I'm aware, there are no plans to bring those products to market here.
To answer your question, if those products do come to market, they will come to market with the labelling on the can.
9:45 a.m.
Bloc
Luc Malo Bloc Verchères—Les Patriotes, QC
So, if my understanding is correct, the labelling you suggest be adopted would not apply to products already containing natural or synthetic caffeine?
9:45 a.m.
President, Refreshments Canada
Energy drinks are already quantitatively labelled. One of the manufacturers of cola-type products already voluntarily declares it, and I'm having discussions with the other one as well at this point.
9:45 a.m.
Bloc
Luc Malo Bloc Verchères—Les Patriotes, QC
Mr. Godefroy, what is the best way to inform Canadians? I am convinced that parents don't know that their children are currently ingesting too much caffeine.
How can we clearly indicate the maximum amount of caffeine that their children can safely consume on a daily basis?
June 8th, 2010 / 9:50 a.m.
Director General, Food Directorate, Health Products and Food Branch, Department of Health
In fact, you put your finger on the main element related to the inappropriate use of certain food products containing caffeine. The key element consists in informing consumers, especially parents, so that they can opt for caffeine-free products.
In its new Food Guide, Health Canada provides a consumption indicator suggesting that carbonated drinks not be the general population's, and especially children's, beverages of choice. It is recommended that Canadians instead opt for water and other beverages, especially those containing protein. Milk and juices are also recommended as beverages of choice.
So, we will continue to educate consumers, whether they be adults or children, about monitoring their daily caffeine intake from all food sources. It is not about focusing on one particular food category, but rather about dealing with the daily caffeine intake issue as a whole. So, we would not only focus on products where caffeine is used as a flavouring agent, extracted from guarana and other sources, but also on caffeine in its natural form, as it is found in coffee, tea, and even chocolate, or in other products that may contain caffeine.
We have already issued—I believe you have already received some documents published by Health Canada over the last few years—a document informing Canadian consumers about caffeine sources. This document provides information on the amounts of caffeine in products where caffeine is naturally occurring, indicates the daily maximum caffeine intake—400 mg for adults—and indicates which groups of individuals could be more sensitive, or more at risk from caffeine consumption, namely pregnant women, women of childbearing age and children.
Labelling is another way of providing this information, especially when it comes to letting consumers know if and how much caffeine a product contains. Labelling is already mandatory for products where caffeine is used as a food additive, and we want to go beyond the food labeling requirements. It is for this reason that, when Health Canada authorized expanding caffeine use to other carbonated drinks, we recommended quantitative labelling for caffeine in those beverages.
9:50 a.m.
Bloc
9:50 a.m.
NDP
Megan Leslie NDP Halifax, NS
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you very much to all the witnesses.
My name is Megan Leslie. I'm the member of Parliament for Halifax.
Mr. Godefroy, I just need to understand one thing about your briefing. On page 3, you say, “Until recently, synthetic caffeine could only be added to cola-type beverages up to a maximum of 200 mg/Litre under the Food and Drug Regulations”. Then you talk about non-colas. Is this 200 milligrams caffeine that is added on top of naturally occurring caffeine? Or is it 200 milligrams total?
9:50 a.m.
Director General, Food Directorate, Health Products and Food Branch, Department of Health
The way the regulation works, essentially, it is the total amount of pure added caffeine to cola-based beverages, simply because caffeine has historically been regulated as a food additive in Canada.
9:50 a.m.
Director General, Food Directorate, Health Products and Food Branch, Department of Health
The same would apply for non-cola.
9:50 a.m.
NDP
Megan Leslie NDP Halifax, NS
So caffeine is coming from other products in non-cola beverages like...?
9:50 a.m.
Director General, Food Directorate, Health Products and Food Branch, Department of Health
Well, essentially we're talking about other carbonated soft drinks, the non-brown soft drinks, if you will.
9:50 a.m.
NDP
9:50 a.m.
Director General, Food Directorate, Health Products and Food Branch, Department of Health
Essentially, the way the formulation of these products works, it is a pure addition of caffeine. That caffeine can be either pure extract or synthetic. It depends essentially on how the supply chain works.
9:50 a.m.
NDP
Megan Leslie NDP Halifax, NS
Thanks.
I find the potential impacts on youth and children to be very, very concerning. They are the category most at risk, as you just said, but they're very much absent from the brief from Health Canada.
I don't need the answer verbally, but I'm wondering if you could table information for us, first answering Ms. Duncan's question about what the pre-existing health conditions are in adolescents where caffeine may complicate those pre-existing health conditions.
I'm hoping you can also provide us with information about which medications, when mixed with caffeine, pose potential health risks, in particular to the high-risk groups of adolescents and pregnant women.
Also, could you actually table the list of reported cases that Dr. Turner referred to? Thank you.
Madame Lefebvre, you didn't get a chance to talk about acute toxicity and chronic toxicity. I was hoping you could do that now. What are the dangers? Are the dangers different for children? What would you recommend as a way to avoid acute toxicity and chronic toxicity?
9:55 a.m.
Pharmacist and Scientific Consultant, Environmental Health and Toxicology, Institut national de santé publique du Québec
As I was saying, in the case of energy drinks or carbonated drinks, the possibility of acute intoxication is very low. Such intoxication is generally caused by consuming caffeine-containing medications. This phenomenon is rarely observed in children.
However, the poison control centre's reports indicate that the number of cases has increased substantially since 2004. There were four reports of intoxication caused by energy drink ingestion in 2004, and 104 such cases were reported in 2008. The reported effects were fairly mild, such as palpitations, nausea, and so on.
The issue at hand is caffeine's chronic toxicity, and I was telling you earlier about caffeinism, which develops through caffeine consumption. Its symptoms include irritability, shaking, muscle twitching, palpitations, hot flashes, and other effects associated with long-term caffeine overconsumption.
Another related issue is caffeine withdrawal syndrome, which is the exact opposite of caffeinism and is associated with fatigue, depression, poor concentration, and especially with headaches that ensue when a person stops consuming caffeine. These effects are usually experienced in the 12- to 24-hour period after people cease consuming caffeine and are remedied by caffeine ingestion.
So, there are two different phenomena related to caffeine use: caffeinism and caffeine withdrawal syndrome. The latter can last for a few days.
