Health committee  As I mentioned earlier, the coordinated approach is very important. For example, in terms of having the food sector as partners in this process, a lot of the work at the present time involves engaging the various sectors. While it's easy for us to say we need to reduce sodium, in

Health committee  If I could follow up on the research question, the evidence comes from three lines. The first is the association, which is not cause and effect. That is, if you actually monitor the sodium intake in a country and the average blood pressure, you can actually line them up. So there

Health committee  Generally 80% of our salt intake is actually from processed food.

Health committee  Yes, we certainly know that there are populations or communities that are particularly susceptible, for example, to cardiovascular morbidity and mortality; for example, our first nations population, the South Asian group, and as mentioned from other studies, the African populatio

Health committee  I think the three-pronged approach proposed so far is a good approach in terms of public education, collaboration from the food industry, reducing the sodium content, and the ability to actually monitor effectiveness so that we know the strategy is working. I think this is import

Health committee  Oh no, I do believe in it. Of course I do.

Health committee  Yes, of course. And my sense is that, in fact, a target has been set. It's a graduated reduction plan. I think that is what's required for a potentially successful strategy in terms of reducing sodium intake for the population.

Health committee  In the minutes of the last committee meeting, I think a target was actually identified: 2,300 milligrams for the year 2016.

Health committee  From a food sciences point of view, people are interested in salt substitutes. The challenge is to find which salt substitutes are safe and which ones can be used in food processing. The other aspect that we are promoting, at both the Sodium Working Group and the CIHR, is the so-

Health committee  I can start, and Phil can follow. In terms of the impact of reducing sodium from a health point of view, it's interesting if you look globally at some of the factors that are producing complications. One, for example, is malnutrition worldwide; that's not a problem in Canada. Bu

Health committee  Yes, this is also part of the agenda. It's a three-pronged research strategy. It will look, in terms of sodium, at the changes in the population. It will look at the effectiveness of public engagement strategy. And it will look at the food content, which will be important in term

Health committee  There are some important geographic as well as cultural and system-based considerations, because we're a very large geographic country with diversity in population composition. Some cultural-specific messaging will be important to benefit all the various populations. So I think s

Health committee  I will say that currently there is some enthusiasm in looking at the U.K. model, because they have actually started on this. And indeed, the thought is to start out with a voluntary reduction strategy, but with the possibility of regulation as a potential incentive, as a strategy

Health committee  I think right now it's while the positive dialogue is going on that the opportunity is still there for us to achieve the original goals. I think this is where the evaluation becomes particularly important, because if the effect is not what we were hoping for, then I think it woul

Health committee  In fact, what we are doing is taking this research agenda forward in the January meeting and looking at the scope of the research requirement, particularly in terms of monitoring. You are absolutely right. Your point is very well taken that indeed additional resources may be re