Member of Parliament says trans fat still a big problem for Canada

Voluntary two year compliance period ends in July 2009

Rather than an outright banning trans fats outright two years ago, the Canadian government allowed food companies to voluntarily meet targets for 2% or less trans fat in cooking oils and soft margarines, and 5% or less trans fat in other food products. The voluntary compliance period is coming to an end however the Canadian government has not indicated that it will enforce the 2% – 5% rule.

Health Canada set up a Trans Fat Monitoring program which is expected to conclude with its fourth and final report to be released soon.

According to Health Canada’s website, “The Trans Fat Monitoring Program was established to analyze the trans fat content of foods that were, as indicated by earlier surveys, significant sources of trans fats, i.e. foods with high levels of trans fats or foods with lower levels of trans fats that were consumed in large quantities by a large number of consumers.”

Bakery products have not fared well in the Trans fat task force study with many still significantly high in artery choking trans fats. Although companies that have reduced or eliminated trans fat have been given credit we should carefully examine how this was accomplished.

In many cases companies have taken the easiest, cheapest way out and simply substituted with palm fat. Although trans free, palm fat is very high in palmitic fatty acid which also clogs arteries and causes heart attacks according to the experts.

Coasun’s shortening alternative or shortening substitutes contains no artery clogging trans fat and is very low in saturated which has also be linked to increased risk of heart attack and cardiovascular disease.

Healthy shortenings do not contain trans fat or palm oil. Coasun’s shortening substitutes are highly functional for most baking applications and use locally available, nutritious vegetable oils such as canola oil, high oleic canola oil, soybean oil, low linolenic soybean oil, sunflower oil, and high oleic sunflower oil.

Coasun has also demonstrated that its technology is compatible with butter and butter oil blends which provide new opportunities for healthier butter based shortening products.

New butter based shortening alternatives can replace palm oil based shortening which most researcher agree contributes negatively to health.

Sally Brown, CEO of the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada says, “Although some companies and sectors have stepped to the plate and done well, overall the food industry is not sufficiently reducing trans fats voluntarily. The time has come for the federal government to regulate.”

We agree with the Heart and Stroke Foundation’s position, but strongly encourage that artery clogging, disease promoting saturated fat from palm oil not be allowed as a substitute.

Canadian technology from Coasun Inc. offers highly functional shortenings for baking and other applications using nutritious liquid vegetable oils from canola and soybeans produced locally right here in Canada.

This is good for health, supports our farmers, and supports our struggling agri-food industry.

The Member of Canada’s Parliament, Pat Martin stated, “In the simplest terms, the voluntary compliance to recommended guidelines has been a catastrophic failure. We need to regulate and even legislate a ban of trans fats if we’re going to ever get it out of the food supply.”

Numerous regions and municipalities such as California, New York City, and Calgary in the U.S. and Canada have already adopted an anti trans fat policy. It is surprising that the Canadian federal government is lagging behind cities in the U.S. in this matter. Perhaps heavy pressure from food companies in Canada that are resistant to change and innovation is impeding the government’s progress on this issue.

So far Health Canada has released three reports as outlined below. The final report is forthcoming and should be available around July or August.

A brief summary of the Health Canada’s Trans Fat Task Force Reports is presented below:

2009 February – 3rd Report

http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/nutrition/gras-trans-fats/tfa-age_tc-tm-intro-eng.php#results

Results for the 3rd Report were focused on baked products consumed by Canadians. These products included:

 Bakery Products

• Croissants
• Danishes
• Pies
• Tarts
• Cakes
• Brownies
• Doughnuts

Packaged Foods

• Cookies
• Crackers
• Instant noodles
• Frozen potatoes
• Pre-packaged deserts
• Snacks
• Popcorn

The following excerpt is Health Canada’s summary presented on their website at: http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/nutrition/gras-trans-fats/tfa-age_tc-tm-intro-eng.php#results

Highlights from the Third Set of Monitoring Data

The results from the label review of different pre-packaged foods, indicate that the nutrition labelling regulations are an effective motivator for industry to reformulate their products as many have reduced the trans fat content and their products are meeting the 5% trans fat of total fat content limit.

The results from the third set of data also show that the levels of trans fats in various ethnic foods are meeting the limits recommended by the Trans Fat Task Force and adopted by Health Canada.

There has also been some progress in bakery products in the reduction of trans fat, from both grocery stores and coffee and donut shops.

Results of foods from coffee and donut establishments:

The results indicate that out of 29 samples analyzed, 17 (or 59%) are meeting the 5% trans fat of total fat limit. Additionally, all 5 coffee and donut shops that were included in this data set offer menu items that are low in trans fat. However, 3 of the 5 establishments still offer menu items that are above the 5% trans fat of total fat limit.

Results of foods from various ethnic restaurants:

The third set of monitoring data includes samples that were collected from establishments that offer a variety of ethnic foods. The results of the ethnic foods indicate that out of 63 foods, 56 (or 89%) are meeting the 5% trans fat of total limit. Additionally, there are foods that are meeting the 5% trans fat of total fat limit from various ethnic restaurants including: Chinese, Thai, East Indian, Lebanese, Caribbean, Japanese, and Vietnamese.

Results from the label review:

The results from the label review indicate the following:

• 65% of cookies (44 out of a total of 68 products) are meeting the 5% limit.
• 86% of crackers (44 out of a total of 51 products) are meeting the 5% limit.
• 86% of instant noodles (19 out of a total of 22 products) are meeting the 5% limit.
• 91% of frozen potatoes (10 out of a total of 11 products) are meeting the 5% limit.
• 80% of pre-packaged desserts (63 out of a total of 79 products) are meeting the 5% limit.
• 92% of snacks (85 out of a total of 92 products) are meeting the 5% limit.
• 58% of popcorn (13 out of a total of 22 products) are meeting the 5% limit.

Percentage of pre-packaged foods meeting the 5% trans fat of total fat limit in 2008 

 Results of bakery products:

The results from the bakery products analyses indicate the following:

• 25% of croissants (4 out of a total of 16 products) are meeting the 5% limit.
• 45% of danishes (5 out a total of 11 products) are meeting the 5% limit.
• 36% of pies (4 out of a total of 11 products) are meeting the 5% limit.
• 67% of tarts (10 out of a total of 15 products) are meeting the 5% limit.
• 43% of cakes (6 out of a total of 14 products) are meeting the 5% limit.
• 45% of brownies (5 out of a total of 11 products) are meeting the 5% limit.
• 33% of donuts (1 out of a total of 3 products) are meeting the 5% limit.

The results from the bakery products laboratory analyzes indicate that out of 81 products analyzed, 35 (or 43%) are meeting the 5% trans fat of total fat limit. The results also indicate that most of the products that are higher than the 5% limit do not have a Nutrition Facts table. Specifically, out of 46 products that are above the 5% limit, 38 (or 83%) of them are unlabelled.

2008 July – 2nd Report

http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/nutrition/gras-trans-fats/tfa-age_sec-data_deux-donn-eng.php

Results for the 2nd Report were focused on baked products consumed by Canadians. These products included:

Pre-packaged Foods

• Garlic breads
• Garlic spreads
• Soft margarines
• Hard Margarines
• Vegetable shortening
• Lard
• Frozen pizzas

Fast Food Restaurants

• Pizzas
• Pizza dipping sauces
• French fries
• Onion rings
• Misc fast foods (e.g. apple turnovers and hash browns)
• Chicken strips & chicken nuggests
• Fish products
• Doughnuts

2007 December - 1rst Report

http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/nutrition/gras-trans-fats/tfa-age_first-data_prem-donn-eng.php

Results for the 1rst Report were focused on baked products consumed by Canadians. These products included:

Restaurants and fast food

• Chicken strips and chicken nuggets
• Doughnuts
• Fish products
• French fries
• Misc. fast foods
• Muffins
• Onion rings

Pre-packages foods from grocery stores:

• Cookies
• Crackers
• Frozen potatoe products (french fries etc.)
• Frozen chicken strips
• Granola bars
• Muffins

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