Last month, Health Canada announced that food fortified with plant sterols would be allowed to carry beneficial health claims on its labels.
It was the first time in Canada that companies were given approval to promote cholesterol-lowering abilities on their products.
Researchers are now examining barley and oats to determine whether products from these foods should be permitted to carry similar health claims.
It would be a boon to farmers, processors and consumers to show clear proof that their crops and the foods created from them not only taste good but also promote good health.
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At the moment, this is assumed but not proven.
Many food companies say the beneficial health claim on food labels is long overdue and similar claims should be more widely adopted.
They complain that Health Canada lags behind the United States and Europe when it comes to allowing health claims on food products, and they have expressed hope that the decision to allow sterols’ health benefits to appear on labels will lead to approval of a rush of other new products with similar label statements.
But should this case mean that approvals will be quicker in the future? Not necessarily. First we have to decide how long is too long for an approval process when consumer protection is involved.
A science-based approach requires repeated and repeatable trials, which takes time.
And maintenance of this approach becomes more important with suggestions that agricultural policy, food policy and health policy should be more closely linked.
The growing importance of the functional food market has created a greater need to protect consumers from incorrect or misleading information.
Functional foods are hailed as being poised for takeoff as the next major market for the food industry, so a cautious approach is required.
This environment, in which large amounts of money are at stake in a field that is largely unexplored, is vulnerable to spurious, untested claims.
Labels that sow confusion rather than benefits serve nobody.
In principle, allowing certain products to carry health claims makes sense. If the information is backed by science, consumers can benefit from the knowledge, and farmers and food companies can benefit through the creation and growth of new markets.
Sterols, which occur naturally in whole grains, nuts, fruits and vegetables, have been found to block cholesterol absorption in the body.
Oats and barley show similar qualities and have been approved for cholesterol lowering health links on labels in the U.S. and Europe.
But questions remain about how processing affects this trait. For example, researchers are finding that beta-glucan’s health benefits are compromised when used with yeast in bread making. Further study is necessary.
Food companies, farmers and consumers all stand to gain by having the best information available about the healthful properties of food.
To get that information, Health Canada must conduct its studies in an efficient and timely matter.
The process may seem cumbersome and overly lengthy, but high burdens of proof are necessary to protect consumers.
As well, reputable food companies, which have much to lose should the functional food market be made irrelevant by impossible health claims and meaningless label information, understand the need to strike a balance between consumer protection and introducing a desirable product to the marketplace.
Bruce Dyck, Terry Fries, Barb Glen and D’Arce McMillan collaborate in the writing of Western Producer editorials.
