Last-minute industry opposition from Canadian brewers may spell disaster for allergy and celiac groups counting on long-awaited food labelling regulations from Health Canada.
Gwen Smith, editor ofAllergic Living magazine, said since the vast majority of labels would affect food, not alcohol, she wonders why the brewers waited “until the 11th hour” to voice opposition when the health of millions of allergic Canadians is at stake.
Brewers, along with all food industry partners, will have 18 months after the law takes effect to make label changes but several brewers have said that they’re concerned about the costs involved.
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“I think it’s really shameful that the beer industry didn’t get its act together sooner if it had an issue,” said Smith, noting that consultations between industry groups and Health Canada have been ongoing for the past seven years.
“Proper labelling for people with allergies and celiac disease is strictly a voluntary thing so what this regulation would do is formalize that,” she said.
It would end the use of scientific terms for everyday foods, like sodium caseinate instead of milk, and eliminate generic terms like hydrolized protein, which doesn’t specify whether the protein source is corn, gluten or soy.
“When someone is trying to manage their allergies, they need transparent and clear labelling to do it.”
Smith said Canada was once a groundbreaker in this type of legislation but it now lags behind American and European labelling laws, which could force exporters to provide clear labelling regardless of whether the legislation passes.
