An internet search for the phrase “healthy foods” generates 59.9 million hits.
Websites from all over the world appear on the screen, offering recipes, diets, academic studies, government food guides, news stories and commercial promotions, all telling you how to eat more healthily and presumably feel better and live longer.
More than ever, it seems, consumers are taking seriously the old aphorism that you are what you eat.
“Consumers are increasingly looking for new and innovative ways and products to manage their own health care and prevent disease,” says Anne Wilkie, vice-president of the Canadian Health Food Association.
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For consumers faced with a barrage of claims about the benefits of various foods, some of them more credible than others, the issue is how to sort through it all and separate the prime rib from the baloney.
That’s where government regulators come in, ensuring that claims about the health benefits of food are accurate and based on sound science.
In Canada, that’s the job of Health Canada.
However, some in the agriculture and food industries say Health Canada’s process for approving health claims is slow, overly demanding, cumbersome and poorly understood.
That is frustrating for food companies and marketers eager to take advantage of this new demand, hoping to convince the health-conscious shopper to buy their product, promising that it will prevent heart disease, reduce the risk of getting cancer or diabetes, give them strong bones or reduce dental decay.
The experience with oats, which received a health claim from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 1997, showed that consumption of a product will increase after a government agency confirms it provides a health benefit.
Quaker Oats, which spearheaded the effort to get the claims approved, had seen its hot cereals sales decline in 1994, 1995 and 1996.
After the health claim was approved and publicized, sales increased by five percent in 1997. The next year, with the claim on the packaging, sales jumped by another seven percent.
Numerous academic studies have also confirmed that consumers are more likely to buy a product if they believe it provides a health benefit. For example, a 2003 study in the publication Journal of Marketing concluded; “A health claim can have favourable effects on attitudes towards products and purchase intentions.”
But critics of the Canadian system say it discourages companies from developing new health-based food products for fear they will be denied approval for a health claim.
As well, they complain it puts them at a disadvantage to food companies in the Unites States, where the health claims process is seen as less onerous.
That’s made evident, they say, by the fact that there are five generic health claims in Canada, with two more likely to be approved next year, while south of the border there are 15 generic claims, at least two more under consideration and another 18 “qualified” health claims.
“Our industry has one hand tied behind its back because we can’t make those same type of claims in Canada,” said Dennis Stephens, a consultant with the Canada Grains Council.
It’s unacceptable, he added, that Canadian food producers and manufacturers are being put at such a disadvantage in the marketplace.
“There is a pressing need to fast-track the process required to enable legitimate health claims to be put on labels of grocery products,” he said.
Some commodity groups are so disenchanted with the Canadian system that they’re considering trying to get a claim approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration instead.
“It would seem there could be greater opportunities for the pulse industry to pursue a health claim in the U.S. rather than in Canada,” said Peter Watts of Pulse Canada.
Health Canada has responded to the criticism by issuing in November 2007 a 134-page discussion paper aimed at developing a more streamlined and effective system for managing health claims.
Nora Lee, head of the department’s nutrition evaluation division, said it is well aware of the industry’s concerns.
“We’ve been hearing from manufacturers in particular, but also from other stakeholders including consumers, about the need to deal with different aspects of the claims system,” she said.
She acknowledged that the rules governing health claims need to be updated and improved. As well, she said the review, which includes public consultations across the country, is designed to identify all of the issues involved in regulating health claims and to get feedback from stakeholders before deciding how to proceed.
Health Canada has identified three goals for its health claim policy:
- To support informed consumer choice by allowing food with health benefits to be marketed with substantiated claims.
- To protect consumers from misleading and unsubstantiated claims.
- To support a fair and competitive market environment that will allow for more consumer choice of food products.
While most of the pressure on the issue has come from food companies looking to make the process quicker and easier, Lee said the department’s primary responsibility is to protect the health of Canadians, and that includes protecting them from false or misleading health claims.
“In allowing the five claims and any future claims, especially as they relate to specific disease outcomes, it’s definitely very important to have a high level of evidence and to have a high degree of certainty that the claim is correct and won’t be overturned by future scientific evidence,” she said.
A number of western Canadian commodity groups are interested in getting health claims for their products.
- Barley – A coalition of industry groups is actively pursuing a health claim and may be ready to make formal application within months. Barley contains high levels of soluble fibre and beta-glucans, which reduce bad cholesterol and the risk of heart disease.
- Flax – The flax industry is attempting to receive “Generally Regarded as Safe” status from the U.S. government. It could then follow that with a health claim in the U.S. and/or Canada. Flax oil provides healthy fat and is a source of omega 3 fatty acids. The seed is also a source of soluble and insoluble fibre, which aid in reducing cholesterol and aiding digestion respectively, and of lignans, which may have cancer-fighting properties.
- Pulse crops – The industry has been gathering scientific data to support a claim in either Canada or the U.S. Pulse Canada has outside scientific experts reviewing the relationship between pulses and cardiovascular health, diabetes and cancer to determine whether more research or clinical trials may be needed.
- Canola – The canola industry recently obtained a qualified health claim for canola oil in the U.S., due to its low saturated fat level, which can reduce the risk of heart disease. Industry officials say that has resulted in positive attention and publicity around the world. Products containing canola oil already qualify for one of Health Canada’s five existing claims.
- Oats – The oats industry has no plans to pursue a claim, on the assumption that Canadians are well aware of the health benefits of oats due to the U.S. claim.
