Evidence of meeting #85 for Health in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was sugar.

A recording is available from Parliament.

On the agenda

MPs speaking

Also speaking

Manuel Arango  Director, Health Policy and Advocacy, Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada
Joanne Lewis  Director, Nutrition and Health Eating, Diabetes Canada
Benoît Lamarche  Chair in nutrition, Université Laval, As an Individual
Clerk of the Committee  Mr. David Gagnon

4:30 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Bill Casey

We have a motion to go in camera.

(Motion agreed to)

4:30 p.m.

Conservative

Luc Berthold Conservative Mégantic—L'Érable, QC

Mr. Chair, a point of order.

You can't move a motion when I'm talking on a point of order. You can't do that.

4:30 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Bill Casey

We just did.

We're going to go in camera.

[Proceedings continue in camera]

[Public proceedings resume]

4:45 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Bill Casey

All right. We're back in public.

I apologize to our guests. Welcome to Ottawa.

Now, for seven minutes, we go to Mr. Davies.

4:45 p.m.

NDP

Don Davies NDP Vancouver Kingsway, BC

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you to the witnesses for being with us.

Mr. Arango, a recent report by the Heart and Stroke Foundation found that 90% of online food and beverage ads viewed by youth are for unhealthy products high in fat, sugar, and salt, such as desserts, snacks, cereals, and sodas. The report noted that such advertising is a key factor in explaining why one-third of Canadian children are currently overweight or obese, and why, since 1979, the number of Canadian children with obesity has tripled.

Since 1980 the province of Quebec, where childhood obesity rates are the lowest in the country, has banned advertisements for toys and fast food aimed at children under 13. In your view, should there be a national ban on junk food advertisements directed at young people?

4:45 p.m.

Director, Health Policy and Advocacy, Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada

Manuel Arango

Absolutely. The Heart and Stroke Foundation's position is that we should have restrictions on unhealthy food and beverage marketing to kids. There should be a national ban. It should be as comprehensive as possible. It should use a very strong nutrient profiling mechanism. It should cover as many marketing media as possible. It's not sufficient, as was done in the U.K., to cover just TV, because then the industry just puts its resources and dollars into marketing in other media such as the Internet, fronts of packages, etc. It has to be very comprehensive.

We're looking forward to continued debate on the issue, on legislation on restricting marketing to kids, which is going to be debated in the House later on this evening. It's very, very important for Canadians and for our kids that we institute such a ban.

4:45 p.m.

NDP

Don Davies NDP Vancouver Kingsway, BC

Thank you.

Dr. Lamarche, I wonder if you, as the chair of nutrition and being from Quebec, have a view on a national ban on advertising of junk food to kids.

4:45 p.m.

Chair in nutrition, Université Laval, As an Individual

Dr. Benoît Lamarche

I want to be transparent that this is not my area of expertise, but I think there is no reason to not introduce such a ban. You've demonstrated by the statistics you showed that this is a very impactful thing to advertise to children. It's low-hanging fruit.

I believe Health Canada is leaning towards that, but it needs to be done. We're doing it in Quebec very well, so it's possible.

4:50 p.m.

NDP

Don Davies NDP Vancouver Kingsway, BC

Well, thank you for leading the way.

The reason I bring that up is that we're dealing with the food guide, which is something that I think everybody around this table and in Parliament wants to promote as widely as possible as a source of information on healthy eating. It seems counterproductive to me if we counter that good work with very effective private sector advertising that is sending to children messages which are different or in fact the opposite from what we're trying to promote in the food guide.

Ms. Lewis, the issue of a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages has come up. Would Diabetes Canada support a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages to help reduce consumption?

4:50 p.m.

Director, Nutrition and Health Eating, Diabetes Canada

Joanne Lewis

Yes, absolutely. Diabetes Canada has been asking and advocating for a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages for the last year plus. It's well known that we are definitely in favour of that, and we're not alone.

4:50 p.m.

NDP

Don Davies NDP Vancouver Kingsway, BC

I'll turn back to you, Mr. Arango. You talked in your opening remarks about front-of-package labelling. I'm curious about your assessment of the current state of labelling. How are we doing in terms of telling consumers accurately and prominently about what's in the packages they're consuming?

December 12th, 2017 / 4:50 p.m.

Director, Health Policy and Advocacy, Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada

Manuel Arango

Certainly that's an issue. We have had an improvement in the nutrition facts table. It is going to be improved shortly. However, we also know, from a lot of research, that the nutrition facts table is not fully comprehensible to a lot of Canadians, especially folks who don't have high literacy levels and others, including children and so on. We need an easier system to communicate to Canadians what the healthfulness is of a particular food product.

There's been a lot of research done through other international organizations that have demonstrated that highly visible, prominent, easy to understand, interpretive, intuitive symbols on the front of packages can have a huge impact in terms of changing the behaviour in terms of consumption patterns of consumers. We strongly support the current work being done by Health Canada to put warning labels on the front of packs that will indicate whether products are high in sodium, sugar, or fat.

4:50 p.m.

NDP

Don Davies NDP Vancouver Kingsway, BC

Dr. Lamarche, I'd like your view as a nutritionist on that as well. How are we doing right now? If I walked into a Loblaws or a Safeway, would I actually be getting the kind of information that you as a nutritionist would want me to be getting from the packages?

I'll ask you another question, because I'll probably run out of time. I'm curious about the issue of the social determinants of health. According to Food Banks Canada:

Thirteen percent of Canadians live in a state of food insecurity, which means they do not have reliable access to adequate amounts of safe, good-quality, nutritious food. The root cause of hunger in Canada is low income, which consistently affects more than 4 million of us at any given time.

Also, I'd like to know in your view to what degree a lack of access to affordable and nutritious food contributes to poor nutrition in Canada.

4:50 p.m.

Chair in nutrition, Université Laval, As an Individual

Dr. Benoît Lamarche

How much time do I have?

4:50 p.m.

Voices

Oh, oh!

4:50 p.m.

Chair in nutrition, Université Laval, As an Individual

Dr. Benoît Lamarche

I'll try to answer the first one quickly.

I think the front-of-pack approach—it's been mentioned previously—is efficient. However, I've mentioned that we have some reservations regarding the sugar target, which is total sugar. Of course, this may change the behaviour of people, but it has an impact on industry as well. Industry will react to these labels and try to get below the target, of course, and not have the warning signs on their product.

The question then becomes, is this the right number? Are we safe with 15 grams or 15% daily...? For me, the science is not that strong behind that actual number. We can debate that all day, but I have some concerns regarding the total sugar target, as opposed to the added sugar target.

Regarding inequities in socio-economic status, I'm a strong proponent of getting access to healthy foods as a more efficient way to improve the health status of Canadians. Communication and education are going to work, but access is key. If we don't give people access to healthy food, it's going to have very little effect, irrespective of how we communicate.

4:55 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Bill Casey

The time is up.

Ms. Sidhu.

4:55 p.m.

Liberal

Sonia Sidhu Liberal Brampton South, ON

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you to all the witnesses for being here and for sharing their valuable information.

My first question is for Diabetes Canada.

There are 11 million Canadians who are living with diabetes or are prediabetes. In your statement, you said that there are going to be 13 million in 2027, with an expenditure of $4.6 billion on health care. It's a big burden.

The Liberal government and our health minister are taking a big step and a good step in revising the food guide. Educating Canadians is an important part of embracing healthy eating. We are living in a diverse country, and we have many different languages from coast to coast to coast. What tools does your organization use to educate Canadians? How do you ensure this information relates to people from different cultures with different food habits?

4:55 p.m.

Director, Nutrition and Health Eating, Diabetes Canada

Joanne Lewis

Diabetes Canada is very committed to getting the message out around how to manage and prevent diabetes. We publish the “Clinical Practice Guidelines” for health care providers to help them help their patients who are trying either to prevent or to manage their diabetes.

With respect to nutrition, absolutely, every culture comes with their own specific cultural foods and eating habits and patterns. In order to ensure that for each of these cultures, particularly the ones who are at a higher risk of developing diabetes, there is some education that they can actually relate to, Diabetes Canada has created resources that are specific to South Asians, to indigenous peoples, to the Latin community—I'm forgetting one—and to the various cultures that are at a higher risk, in order to help them incorporate their own foods into the information we have in our guidelines.

4:55 p.m.

Liberal

Sonia Sidhu Liberal Brampton South, ON

Thank you.

This question is for the Heart and Stroke Foundation.

In your strategic plan, you have indicated that the foundation has set a goal to the reduce risk factors for heart disease and stroke by 10% by 2020. As I said, our health minister has taken great steps to promote healthy eating by reducing saturated fat intake and making recommendations through the revised food guide. With this in mind and the future steps you would like to see in order to reach your goal by 2020, what steps do you think we should take?

4:55 p.m.

Director, Health Policy and Advocacy, Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada

Manuel Arango

I certainly think a number of things that the government and Health Canada are proposing right now with the healthy eating strategy are going to help us achieve these targets.

My colleague from Diabetes Canada did mention one thing, a levy on sugary drinks. That's not in the current strategy, but we think it should be in the future. That's definitely a key component. As well, the restricting of marketing of unhealthy foods and beverages to kids is a huge factor that is going to be very influential. The ban on trans fats is going to be very helpful as well to help us achieve these targets. Obviously, the revision of the food guide and front-of-package labelling are all key pieces that will help us achieve these risk-factor targets.

4:55 p.m.

Liberal

Sonia Sidhu Liberal Brampton South, ON

In your view, in your 2020 target, do you think the government can take more steps? What is your suggestion on that?

4:55 p.m.

Director, Nutrition and Health Eating, Diabetes Canada

Joanne Lewis

Similar to my colleague from Heart and Stroke, I think the multipronged approach is going to take more than just Canada's food guide being revised. It's going to take various policies, a lot of education, and as Dr. Lamarche mentioned, it's also going to be a policy that enables people to have the access they require. One tool or one tactic is not going to solve this issue. It really needs to be multipronged.

4:55 p.m.

Liberal

Sonia Sidhu Liberal Brampton South, ON

The DASH diet is high in fibre, low in sodium, low in sugar, and low in saturated fats. This cardiovascular diet is recommended. The Diabetes Canada and Heart and Stroke websites both contain information about the DASH diet. While it is important to reduce sodium intake, are we not running the risk of replacing high sodium intake with a high potassium intake? When somebody who uses the DASH diet has CHF, a congestive heart failure condition, they have to monitor their potassium as well. Does the DASH diet increase the potassium level if we recommend the DASH diet?

5 p.m.

Director, Health Policy and Advocacy, Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada

Manuel Arango

I know there are concerns with sodium levels in heart failure patients, so I think the recommendations are slightly different for heart failure patients. To your point, a different approach has to be taken for sure, but I think with the population at large, for folks not living with heart failure, it's very important to have low sodium for sure. Yes, a different approach has to be taken with heart failure patients.