The food, beverage and supplement weight management product market in the U. S. last year was $3.64 billion and growing fast. For the industry, beyond the traditional claims such as low fat (food minus), a burgeoning new field involves a shift to satiety claims (food plus). Foods marketed for satiety have enhanced levels of fibre
Feeling Full, Satisfying Hunger
Is Salt Becoming The Next Trans Fat?
While there is always some scientific uncertainty in matters of regulatory science, in our Jan. 21 article (“Hold the salt,” Co-operator, page 5) we saw there is now a strong scientific consensus that Canadians on average are consuming more than double the recommended daily intake of sodium (1,500 mg), and that there is strong evidence
Hold The Salt
While the addition of vitamins and minerals to food is highly regulated, sodium is not. Policy-making in the area of food and nutrition is a difficult task at the best of times. It’s particularly difficult when the science is not clear, and this is more common than most people realize. When the science is uncertain,
Defining “Natural” Is A Tricky Proposition
Indirect or implied “natural” claims are everywhere already and the industry will continue to get bolder. With a public suffering from chemical paranoia, there is a growing consumer demand for more “natural” products. Growing doubts about the meaning of “organic” and the spotty regulatory efforts to limit the amount of misleading labelling led the food
The Precautionary Principle Is Not The Answer – for Oct. 8, 2009
Food safety regulators cope every day with applying science-based standards to complex fact situations. The task is tough enough when the science is relatively certain but when the science is not so clear – and this is far more common than is generally recognized – then the regulator faces a truly daunting challenge. In recent
What Does “Organic” Really Mean?
The word “organic” has proved to be one of the most powerful words in today’s supermarket. But what, people always ask me, does it mean? For many, it means food coming from an idyllic, little local family farm where no pesticides or chemical fertilizers are used and where the little animals roam free and happy
Beneficial Plant Sterols Not Available To Canadians
Health Canada’s minister should listen to her provincial colleagues, all overwhelmed by the costs of health care, not the least from the public cost of drugs to treat CHD. The recently released report by Food and Consumer Products of Canada (FCPC) titled Food Regulatory Systems: Canada’s Performance in the Global Marketplace is yet another study
Chemical Paranoia
Basic scientific illiteracy is further compounded by our collective problem with innumeracy. On March 5, the front page of the Globe and Mail screamed the scary headline: “Tests find Bisphenol A in majority of soft drinks.” The story began in loaded and unqualified language: “The estrogen-mimicking chemical BPA, already banished from baby bottles and frowned
The Law Of Tea
Tea is the world’s most popular prepared drink. Canadians drink more than nine billion cups of it a year. Currently the tea industry is experiencing real growth: in 2007, the Canadian tea market grew to over $388 million in annual sales. Technically, tea in Canadian law is defined to be the beverage made from the
Food irradiation’s time has come
Irradiation shouldn’t replace good manufacturing practices but can be an important step in the right direction. Well, it’s been quite a summer. Who would have thought just a few months ago that food safety would be front and centre as a federal election issue, or that obscure people who work for universities would suddenly emerge
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
