Evidence of meeting #59 for Health in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was advertising.
A recording is available from Parliament.
1:10 p.m.
Bloc
Luc Thériault Bloc Montcalm, QC
What about a snack size yogurt, for example? Would you consider yogurt with 15 to 18 grams of sugar acceptable or not?
1:10 p.m.
Chief Medical Advisor and Senior Medical Advisor, Health Products and Food Branch, Department of Health
Yogourt is an excellent example of exactly this. When you go into the grocery store, half an entire aisle is yogourt. Some of those might be suitable to be part of a child's regular diet. Some of them may be very high in fat and very high in sugars as well, so maybe they would not be.
Again, it's not to identify one product; it's to put categories in place. The categories are not things that couldn't be sold, but those that shouldn't be directed at children. What we're trying to get at is preventing children from being susceptible to marketing where they would then ask for, demand or look for these specific products that could potentially, on their face, look healthy, but when you actually look at the nutrition label, are not healthy for them.
1:10 p.m.
Bloc
Luc Thériault Bloc Montcalm, QC
So the most important thing is to establish the acceptable level. Once that level is set, I would imagine that we have products that would not exceed it. In any case, that's what I would do if I were producing them. I imagine that businesses will then offer more acceptably healthy products if they want to be able to market them through advertising.
I understand the argument and the benefit of that.
We are moving forward.
Thank you.
1:10 p.m.
Liberal
Marcus Powlowski Liberal Thunder Bay—Rainy River, ON
If I'm understanding this correctly, the two prescribed...so I would have thought an example of—
1:10 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Sean Casey
Give us just a second, Dr. Powlowski.
Do you have a point of order, Mr. Davies?
1:10 p.m.
NDP
Don Davies NDP Vancouver Kingsway, BC
I'm sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt, Dr. Powlowski.
It's just a point of order. It's 1:15 and the meeting is supposed to end at 1:00 p.m. I don't know about other people, but I have appointments. How long is this meeting going to go? We're clearly not going to finish—
1:10 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Sean Casey
It's going to go until somebody moves adjournment.
Dr. Powlowski has the floor.
1:10 p.m.
Liberal
Marcus Powlowski Liberal Thunder Bay—Rainy River, ON
I'll make my point quickly. I think an example of foods that might exceed the prescribed levels of sugars, but which you may not want to make prescribed foods, are apples or mangos. They probably have a lot of sugar in them that is over a prescribed level. On the other hand, you're not going to ban the advertising of apples or mangos.
1:10 p.m.
Chief Medical Advisor and Senior Medical Advisor, Health Products and Food Branch, Department of Health
Absolutely. The first part of the “prescribed” also allows for that. If you wanted to define “processed foods” or “whole foods” or other categories of foods up front and then look at nutrient levels, it gives the flexibility to do that as well. That's a very good example.
1:15 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Sean Casey
Is it the will of the committee to adjourn the meeting?
(Motion agreed to)
We're adjourned.
