Thank you for your presentation.
Your testimony to the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology is proving to be very interesting. There's only one problem. In your submission, you make some recommendations to Health Canada, but not to Industry Canada. You're making a plea for help, because there is no white knight defending the food processing industry.
Are you aware that today, the public looks upon the food and processing industries as two very unwieldy industries guilty of gross excesses?
Yesterday evening, I watched a report advising consumers that there was no guarantee the ground beef they purchased was free of E. coli bacteria. There's no question that these kinds of reports create problems. Two weeks ago, a warning was issued about spinach and last week, carrot juice was singled out. Consumers were advised to throw out any carrot juice in their refrigerators.
What are you asking? What can you as an industry do as well to rectify this situation?
The current situation is reminiscent of the situation faced by doctors. Consulting a doctors doesn't cost anything if one has medical insurance. However, people are prepared to pay $35, $50 or even $100 to consult a naturopath. That means that people don't have a lot of confidence in the traditional medical system. The same is true of organic food products. This sector has grown because people are turning away from the traditional industry. What can be done to reverse this trend?