Thank you, Madam Chair.
Bonjour, mesdames et messieurs.
Honourable members, I'd like to thank you for allowing us the opportunity to appear before you today and to speak with you about some of the activities that Health Canada has undertaken to help Canadians make healthier food choices and therefore also have a healthier lifestyle.
As my colleagues Drs. Hutchinson and Elmslie have indicated, we work very closely together to support the nutritional health and well-being of Canadians. Specifically, the food directorate in Health Canada sets the standards for the safety and nutritional quality of all foods available for sale in Canada. Therefore, when it is determined that there is any hazard or risk associated with our food supply, it is our responsibility as regulators to determine how best to eliminate, reduce, or manage that risk.
For instance, there has been a growing recognition that Canadians are consuming more sodium than they need to maintain good health. As a result, our directorate in Health Canada is currently implementing the recommendations of the sodium reduction strategy that are specific to its mandate as a food regulator. We are already pursuing a number of regulatory approaches that support some of the sodium reduction initiatives outlined in the strategy, including the necessary updates to the nutrition labelling regulations and the streamlining of approvals for food additives that can successfully replace sodium in food products, specifically in processed foods.
With regard to enabling new food products and innovative healthy food alternatives, Health Canada's Food Directorate is also responsible for the assessment and authorization of new and novel products, which, in some cases, can provide additional nutritional benefits for consumers.
For example, our experts and scientists have assessed foods with improved properties, such as the enhancement of lutein in egg products, and have allowed the marketing of those foods. Lutein, by the way, is an antioxidant that helps to prevent macular degeneration.
As a food safety and nutrition regulator, our role is to assess and where possible enable safe and nutritious novel products such as these, which can further assist Canadians by providing them with more healthful food choices.
Another area of our work is to ensure that the information related to foods, either on the label or used for advertising purposes, is scientifically substantiated and provides consumers with the knowledge base needed to make informed decisions and choices.
Canada was in fact the first country in the world to have mandatory requirements of nutrition labelling on our food products. These regulations came into full effect in December 2007, and require that calories and the content of 13 core nutrients be listed on most pre-packed foods in a standardized format.
It is this type of information, combined with education programs such as the recently launched campaign mentioned by Dr. Hutchinson, that offers an opportunity to improve the nutritional health and well-being of Canadians by providing them the information they need to make those food choices.
Health Canada continues to monitor the effectiveness of these labelling requirements, particularly those that pertain to health and safety, and which are under the department oversight to ensure that they are achieving their objectives, and particularly their public health objectives.
As mentioned earlier, Health Canada is currently evaluating the nutrition labelling regulations as well as its regulatory oversight of health claims.
Following public consultation in early 2008, a five-year action plan was developed to modernize how health claims on foods are managed. The objectives of the plan are to allow greater flexibility for highlighting the health benefits of food products, and to improve the efficiency and transparency of premarket review and regulatory processes for health claims.
Another objective of the plan is to increase industry's capacity to make function claims, with the most important and ultimate goal being to enhance consumer confidence in how health claims are used and regulated.
A modernized process to manage the approval of disease risk reduction and therapeutic health claims is also being explored. The process emphasizes the need to have a thorough safety assessment and confirmation of the scientific underpinning and substantiation of the claim before enabling its use.
We have also updated guidance that is to be provided to industry as to the types of studies that will be required and the quality of the data that will need to be achieved before making a submission to Health Canada for our scientists to evaluate these submissions.
I do hope that I have highlighted some of the initiatives that Health Canada is pursuing to support Canadians in making their food choices in a way that will contribute to the overall healthier lifestyle.
We are all committed to continuing our work to enhance not only the safety of our food supply but also consumers' understanding of how the choices they make can actually positively impact their health and well-being.
Thank you for allowing us the opportunity to appear before you.