Health committee  The working group is well placed to demonstrate leadership. We've been working very hard. It might look like we're slow, but we aren't. Within Health Canada, the leadership that's been provided to the working group will complement the World Health Organization process that will take place.

Health committee  I don't actually remember if Finland's is mandatory. I know the U.K. is voluntary. I think an important point to know also in looking at those two examples is that Finland took well over 20 years to shift their population average sodium intake. In the last record I remember looking at-- and Dr.

Health committee  With respect to monitoring our individual member companies, that isn't a role of a trade association. However, through the multi-stakeholder working group the fourth step in our game plan is one of monitoring the progress of the food industry against sodium reduction targets. That's part of the game plan of the working group.

Health committee  Roughly 77% comes from processed food products and foods in restaurants, about 5% to 6% at the table or in cooking, and the balance in cooking, I believe, and naturally occurring. It's about 12% that comes from other sources; 5% of that is at the table.

Health committee  I'd just like to support earlier remarks I made. Sodium is a more complex issue or a more complex nutrient to take control of in the food supply. It has several functions in food, and finding replacements for those functions is not straightforward or simple. Taste is one of them, but it's not the only one.

Health committee  The members of FCPC, who support the working group, all know what the targets are. The dietary consumption target is for 2016. It is to get the dietary consumption down to 2,300 milligrams. Through the multi-stakeholder working group there's a process for all the individual food companies to engage in dialogue with Health Canada, and that process is going on right now.

Health committee  No, I'm finished. Sorry.

Health committee  I can speak to the food processing side but not to the food service side. I'll leave that to Ron.

Health committee  The food industry is, as I said in my remarks, engaged in the whole process of reducing sodium levels. On an individual corporate basis, each company has its own particular strategies for setting up a sodium reduction strategy. The example I used, with respect to product reformulation, was to give everybody a bit of a visual idea of how long it will take if you take one product, and it's a straightforward product, and you say that you're going to reduce the sodium levels for just that one product.

Health committee  Thank you. Food and Consumer Products welcomes this opportunity to meet again on the efforts to reduce sodium consumption in Canada. When we met last October, FCPC indicated its support for the work being done in the multi-stakeholder working group process. We continue to supports its work, and I continue to take an active role as a member of the working group.

Health committee  As we're a trade association, I obviously can't speak on behalf of individual companies, but yes, it is known that there are differences between products in different parts of the world, and it can be on both sides of the fence. There will be some products in Canada that are lower in sodium than they are in the U.K., for instance.

Health committee  Good afternoon. Food and Consumer Products of Canada welcomes this opportunity to speak to the Standing Committee on Health. FCPC is the largest industry association in Canada, representing the food and consumer products industry. The points I will make in the next few minutes, while more succinct, capture the key elements of the full FCPC submission in support of briefing this committee on sodium, and I will focus on looking at the Blood Pressure Canada recommendations, the CSPI recommendations, and the work of the multi-stakeholder working group.

Health committee  I would go back to a remark that Ms. Davidson made earlier, that from your position this is very confusing because of the conflicting information. I would say the starting point for what you can do is to make sure you have in-depth conversations with experts in the area of childhood obesity.

Health committee  Thank you. I don't think my message was understood clearly. I was giving you a reference point by saying that I can't be objective because I have the training I have. I think the nutrition facts table is a valuable tool for the average Canadian to have to go to the grocery store and to use for product comparison.

Health committee  With respect to our program, one of the things I wanted to point out in the short time we had to present today is that one of the things the food and beverage industry does is support the education component. It's true that unless you come with some education concerning what that label and those 13 core nutrients are about, it's pretty hard to just do it cold.