Posted at 5:00 a.m.
Less sugar, salt, fat
Generally, prepackaged foods that contain 15% or more of the Daily Value of saturated fat, sugar or sodium will be covered by this new policy. Pre-packaged meals that have at least 30% of the recommended daily intake will also be labelled, according to Health Canada guidelines. Certain products, such as 2% milk, eggs and nuts, will not be subject to this new standard since they “present a recognized benefit for the protection of health”.
IMAGE PROVIDED BY HEALTH CANADA
Example of a new nutrition label produced by Health Canada
This initiative, on the table since 2018, is warmly welcomed by the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada. “The government is showing that it is possible to promote both the health of the population and the interests of the food industry,” rejoices Kevin Bilodeau, director of government relations for the organization. This label will serve to redirect consumer choices, force industries to make their products less harmful to health and counterbalance the “healthy” marketing put forward on certain products. »
The trap of good and bad
“It’s like a simplification of the table of nutritional value, without replacing it”, summarizes Bernard Lavallée, nutritionist.
PHOTO HUGO-SÉBASTIEN AUBERT, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Bernard Lavallée, nutritionist
However, it is essential, according to him, not to consider foods that escape this label as foods that are necessarily good for your health.
It is determined that foods are “better” or not for health based on the content of one of these three elements. I find that to be reductive compared to the real value of food.
Bernard Lavallée, nutritionist
The challenge is to find the balance between a public health message that informs us about the nutritional quality of food and the concern not to demonize food, underlines the nutritionist.
For example, raw minced meat is among the foods that are not affected by the new labels. “We have insisted so much on the consequences linked to the consumption of red meat that many people have the impression that it is a food that is not good for health, remarks Bernard Lavallée. The reality is that red meat is a food that is nutritious. We certainly consume too much of it in our society, but it remains a very little processed food. »
The Quebec Cattle Producers welcome this decision with relief, noting that raw meat, whether cut or ground, remains the same food.
Pay attention to diet culture
Stéphanie Côté, nutritionist, sees in this initiative a starting point which makes it possible to indicate which foods, when consumed to excess, can pose health risks. “However, there is a question of nuance in food that cannot be explained with a simple logo on the packaging, she believes. I don’t know if this new labeling will really help everyone. She points out in particular that it is possible that the addition of this label fuels a certain guilt in people who are concerned about their diet.
With the culture of diets, for people who already watch what they eat and who have difficulty considering that all foods can be allowed in the diet, being told that such a food is too fatty, too sweet, too salty won’t help.
Stéphanie Côté, nutritionist
With the addition of this symbol, the nutritionist fears that these people, who would benefit from being a little more indulgent towards themselves in terms of food, come up against an additional coercive obstacle.
According to her, Health Canada will have to rely on education and awareness to ensure the success of this project.
Possible circumvention of the industry
Faced with this new directive, players in the agri-food industry will necessarily have to reposition themselves, believes the representative of the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, Kevin Bilodeau. It provides that they will tend to slightly reduce the content of these products so as not to cross the 15% threshold which determines the affixing of the label. “Already there, it’s good news,” he says, recalling that by dint of ingesting products rich in saturated fats, sugar or sodium, consumers are more at risk of developing chronic diseases. .
However, this new measure raises an important question, according to Bernard Lavallée. Knowing that natural foods are healthier, he fears that the industry, by reformulating products to avoid having to carry the label, still offers ultra-processed foods using substitutes which are linked to the same problems. health. “I wonder if the industry isn’t going to play with these components so that certain processed products ultimately look better than they really are. »
Learn more
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- Almost 60%
- Caloric intake of ultra-processed foods in the diet of children aged 9 to 13
Source: Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada