Preventable chronic diseases like diabetes and heart disease are plaguing a significant number of the population. In the hopes of raising awareness among Canadians, Health Canada is actively taking measures. Last year, they announced the long-overdue revamped of the Nutrition Facts table (NFt). This year, Health Canada is considering about imposing a front-of-package (FOP) labeling requirements for unhealthy foods that are high in sodium, saturated fat, and sugars. This initiative is part of their Healthy Eating Strategy, a project that was launched back in October 2016. Their goal is to “to help make it easier for Canadians to make healthier food choices at the grocery store.” While nutritional information (NFt and list of ingredients) is labeled on the food products, many Canadians find it difficult to decipher and digest the data. Furthermore, the in-your-face healthy food claims (e.g. no added sugar; no trans fat; high in fiber) tends to mask the unhealthy side of the food products.
Unhealthy food products based on the amount of sodium, saturated fat, and sugars are defined as the following suggested criteria:
Some countries have already started to adopt a similar system. Under Chilean laws, unhealthy food products are obliged to stick a FOP warning logo while the United Kingdom settles on the traffic light system for ranking their products.
As you would have guessed, the food industry is not so happy with this ruling. In an interview with La Presse, the Conseil de la transformation alimentaire du Québec argued opting for this logo “substitute the Nutrition Facts table” and that such “simplification will incite consumers to make choices that are not necessarily healthy.”
Nevertheless, Health Canada hopes that imposing such logo will entice food manufacturers to offer nutritious products and prompt consumers to make the healthy dietary choices.
What do you think? Let us know in the comments below!
