CANADA: Food rules need update: Watchdog

13.may.09
Canwest News Service
Sarah Schmidt

Canada's food regulatory system is so broken and inefficient that some
companies use a "work-around" route to get health claims on new
products, according to a new industry report.
The Food and Consumer Products of Canada, representing food
manufacturers and marketers, commissioned the study to determine the
impact of Canada's current food-approval system on companies wanting to
introduce new products or novel foods or make health claims on them.
The assessment, based on 12 case studies of actual examples from
Canadian food and beverage manufacturers, provides evidence of "problems
and lengthy lags" now running more than a decade for some companies
seeking approvals.
The effect is twofold, the report concludes -- food innovation is
stifled and consumers don't have access to healthy foods available
elsewhere in the world.
"We've got to stop writing reports and stop admiring the problem," Nancy
Croitoru, president of Food and Consumer Products of Canada, said in an
interview.
"Industry isn't saying: 'We don't want regulations.' Industry is saying:
'Give us regulations, just make sure it's clear what we need to do so we
can get on with it,'" Croitoru added, pointing out Japan has approved 40
health claims compared to 15 in the United States and four in Canada.