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January/February 2002 issue	In this issue Table of Contents Editor’s Notebook Inside Story Feature: Harvest of goodwill À la carte Reverberations

Harvest of Goodwill (Feature) | Canadian food firsts | Just the beer facts
Food nutrition lables get a facelift | Securing a meal | Archives
The ABCs of healthy eating | Comfort food | Dining al fresco | A taste of Paris

If you’ve ever found yourself standing in a grocery store, trying to decipher the difference between "low in fat," "fat-free" and "light," you are not alone. Consumers who try to make healthy food choices based on inconsistent and ambiguous product labels face a daunting, if not impossible, task.

Health Canada is about to make it easier for all of us. New proposed regulations will make nutrition labeling mandatory and consistent, conform to updated requirements for nutrient content claims and permit certain diet-related health claims that reflect recent scientific research.

Nutrition fact boxes will be mandatory on all pre-packaged foods (with a few exceptions, such as raw fruit and vegetables), containing information on calories and the 13 nutrients deemed important by scientists, consumers and health professionals. Included are the amount of fat, saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, sodium, carbohydrates, fibre, sugars, protein, vitamins A and C, calcium and iron in a standard serving. Other nutrients and information such as "calories from fat" may also appear, but are not required.

Nutritional claims — such as "low in fat" — describing the amount of a particular nutrient in a food are also being considered, but they would have to meet specific qualifications (e.g. a food must contain less than 3 grams of fat in a regulated amount to qualify as low-fat).

Certain diet-related health claims would also be allowed under the proposed changes. For the first time in Canada, food manufacturers could make health claims promoting the relationship of particular types of food and diet to a healthy lifestyle — if their product meets all of the criteria. Five such claims, based on the most up-to-date science available, have been proposed. For example, a label could say, "a diet with adequate calcium and vitamin D reduces the risk of osteoporosis," and the product would be named as a source of these nutrients.

The regulatory proposals entered the last stage of consultation in June of 2001 and are expected to become law by the end of 2002. Large manufacturers will be given two years from the date of implementation to make the changes while smaller companies can take three years.

By Janice MacDonald

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