September 8, 2005 – The federal government has supported the recommendations of the Trans Fat Task Force, which has just tabled a preliminary report.
This task force was established in November 2004 following the adoption of a motion by the House of Commons to eliminate industrial trans fats in food products. Its final recommendations are expected to be presented to Minister of Health Ujjal Dosanjh in late fall.1.
First observation of the Trans Fat Study Group: several large companies have already taken measures to reduce the trans fat content in their products. However, the task will prove more difficult for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). To this end, the committee proposes that a list of non-profit food processing development centers be drawn up, with a view to helping SMEs find replacement fats.
Apart from food processing manufacturers, the committee also targets restaurateurs. He asks them to establish a guide to modify their recipes rich in trans fat. It also offers them the voluntary display of nutritional information for the benefit of customers. Note that the average consumption of trans fat by Canadians comes, in a proportion of 22%, from foods consumed outside the home.
Finally, an important political challenge emerges from the committee’s recommendations. Canada will indeed have to enter into talks with the United States so that the two countries agree on the definition of a product “free of trans fat”. In Canada, a product can make this claim if it contains less than 0.2 g of these fats per reference serving. In the United States, this limit is set at 0.5 g.
The study group will continue its consultations during the fall, in order to hear the alternatives that will have to be proposed by the experts, the consumers and the actors of the health sector.
The disgruntled NDP
By press release2, the New Democratic Party (NDP) criticized the content of the report and the reception given to it by Federal Minister of Health Ujjal Dosanjh. The NDP MP who introduced the motion passed by Parliament in November 2004, Pat Martin, believes that “the report is not going in the right direction”. He said the motion was about eliminating trans fats, not reducing their use. “It is inconceivable to agree to put poison in our food as long as it is properly labeled,” he concludes.
According to a measure already planned, the industry will have to indicate on the labels of processed foods what their trans fat content is, as of next December.
Canada is one of the countries with the highest consumption of trans fatty acids in the world, according to Health Canada. This could represent a public health problem since they significantly increase the risk of suffering from cardiovascular disorders.
Martin LaSalle – PasseportSanté.net
1. On this subject, see the complete file on the Santé Canda website: www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/nutrition/gras-trans-fats/index_e.html [site consulté le 7 septembre 2005].
2. On this subject, see the press release issued on 1er September 2005 by the NDP, at the following address: www.npd.ca/page/1598 [site consulté le 8 septembre].
