Samuel Godefroy, director general of Health Canada’s food directorate, admitted yesterday that the feds’ voluntary program for restaurants and food manufactures to lower the trans-fat levels in their products is not working, adding that new regulations are looming.
In June 2007, the government gave the foodservice industry two years to voluntarily reduce the amount of trans fats in its food products, to a limit of no more than two per cent of the fat content in vegetable oils and spreadable margarines and five per cent in other foods.
In parliament yesterday — amidst strong claims from the opposition that the Conservatives are soft on the issue of lowering the unhealthy fat content in foods — Health Canada proclaimed that the enforced regulation over trans-fat reduction is “absolutely on the table,” though Godefroy cautioned that such a law was unlikely to be rolled out quickly.
According to a story on Canada.com, the government’s trans-fat monitoring program found the trans-fat levels in pre-packaged bakery goods at grocery stores and menu items available at small- and medium-sized foodservice operators are still a problem. Some 25 per cent of croissants, for instance, meet the imposed target, compared to just 33 per cent of doughnuts, 36 per cent of pies and 45 per cent of brownies. At QSR and family restaurants, 59 per cent of chicken products and 78 per cent of french fries meet the trans-fat targets.
Clearly, the foodservice industry still has a lot of work to do.
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