September 6, 2007 – Consumers should be better informed about the nutritional value of the products they buy at grocery stores and fast food chains.
This is what the Lucie and André Chagnon Foundation supported1, during the hearings of the Commission on the Future of Quebec Agriculture and Agri-Food, held in Montreal. The Foundation calls on the federal and provincial governments to oblige fast food chains and the agri-food industry to “provide nutrition information that is clear and easy to understand”.
The restaurants of fast food should be required to display the calorie content of meals on their menus, claims the Foundation. And processed foods sold in the grocery store should have a simple color code that would make it easy for consumers to distinguish good products from unhealthy ones.
To give weight to its recommendations, the Foundation offers to invest $ 50 million over ten years if “legislative measures are taken to promote the benefits of healthy eating,” said the President of the Commission to the Commission. Foundation, André Chagnon.
For informed choices
“The information contained in Nutrition Facts tables on food products is understandable only to insiders and it totally excludes catering,” added Dr.r Michel Boivin, head of health promotion at the Foundation. “In the grocery store, the proliferation of information and logos on prepackaged products makes the label overloaded, even incomprehensible,” he added.
According to the Foundation, a mandatory code on the nutritional value of foods, “adopted without delay” would allow consumers to make informed choices. The task of assessing the nutritional quality of products would fall to a government body which would decide on the code to be affixed to each.
For their part, fast food chains should “indicate the caloric content of standard meals” on their menu so that it is possible to compare the number of calories between a hamburger alone and a burger meal including fries and soft drink, underlines the Foundation.
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A color code inspired by traffic lights Citing experiences in England and the United States, Dr Michel Boivin suggests that the government take inspiration from traffic lights when developing a product coding system:
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According to André Chagnon, only coercive measures will have an effect on producers, processors and retailers. “The market will adapt to the requirements of the law, as was the case in the fight against smoking. “
André Chagnon believes that the state cannot ignore his appeal. “Health represents $ 22 billion in Quebec’s budget per year, with an increase of 7% annually. The government must think and act in the long term to reduce the pressure on its overall budget. “
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Also in the memory of the Foundation … The Foundation also offers solutions to the problems of supplying healthy food in underprivileged areas: – preparation and distribution of healthy meals in early childhood centers and school canteens; To finance these projects, the Foundation recommends a surcharge on junk food. To consult the Foundation’s brief: www.caaaq.gouv.qc.ca. |
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For other news concerning the Commission on the Future of Quebec Agriculture and Agri-Food, consult the index of our File. |
Martin LaSalle – PasseportSanté.net
1. PasseportSanté.net is a 100% subsidiary of the Lucie and André Chagnon Foundation.
