Ottawa disbands salt task force, industry licks lips in anticipation
For years, it’s been evident that Canadians are consuming too much salt. In response to public pressure, and growing unease over the fact that one can get the required daily dose of salt from a couple cans of pop, the federal government put together a task force in 2007 to recommend ways to reduce Canadians’ sodium intake. After four years of work, Stephen Harper is disbanding the sodium task force and handing the work off to an industry-friendly body. Because self-regulation in food has always worked like a charm. According to the Globe and Mail:
The group released a report last summer that called for a voluntary program to reduce sodium consumption to 2,300 milligrams a person by 2016. The goal hinges on the ability of the food industry to lower the amount of sodium in its products. The working group had planned to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the voluntary program by 2016, and, if necessary, call on the government to create binding regulations.
But Dr. Kevin Willis said he and others in the working group were told during a conference call in December their responsibilities would be handed to a group called the Food Regulatory Advisory Committee.
This news comes only weeks after several provinces (the ones that represent two thirds of Canada’s population) requested that Ottawa get serious about defining “healthy food” in an objective way. Ottawa, apparently, is uninterested doing the job itself and prefers to hand the work off to people closely tied to the food industry, according to the Globe’s reporting.
Anyone hoping that Stephen Harper—who’s taken a healthier turn himself in the last few years—was going to pull a Michelle Obama and get the state in the business of giving people healthier food choices is out of luck. We’re not calling for Canada to pull a New York or anything, but it might be a good idea to have salt content in food decided by someone other than the people who make money selling us salty foods. Just a thought.
• Ottawa disbands sodium reduction task force [Globe and Mail]
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For years, it’s been evident that Canadians are consuming too much salt. In response to public pressure, and growing unease over the fact that one can get the required daily dose of salt from a couple cans of pop, the federal government put together a task force in 2007 to recommend ways to reduce Canadians’ sodium intake. After four years of work, Stephen Harper is disbanding the sodium task force and handing the work off to an industry-friendly body. Because self-regulation in food has always worked like a charm. According to the Globe and Mail:
The group released a report last summer that called for a voluntary program to reduce sodium consumption to 2,300 milligrams a person by 2016. The goal hinges on the ability of the food industry to lower the amount of sodium in its products. The working group had planned to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the voluntary program by 2016, and, if necessary, call on the government to create binding regulations.
But Dr. Kevin Willis said he and others in the working group were told during a conference call in December their responsibilities would be handed to a group called the Food Regulatory Advisory Committee.
This news comes only weeks after several provinces (the ones that represent two thirds of Canada's population) requested that Ottawa get serious about defining “healthy food” in an objective way. Ottawa, apparently, is uninterested doing the job itself and prefers to hand the work off to people closely tied to the food industry, according to the Globe’s reporting.
Anyone hoping that Stephen Harper—who’s taken a healthier turn himself in the last few years—was going to pull a Michelle Obama and get the state in the business of giving people healthier food choices is out of luck. We’re not calling for Canada to pull a New York or anything, but it might be a good idea to have salt content in food decided by someone other than the people who make money selling us salty foods. Just a thought.
• Ottawa disbands sodium reduction task force [Globe and Mail]){kind=link}
Finally a step in the right direction!
I’ve heard several life-times worth of their social-worker babble and enough is enough.
If any of them actually knew anything, one might be inclined to listen occasionally…………. But, their flip-flop routing has grown tiresome: eggs are good/eggs are bad; milk is good/milk is bad/ butter is good/butter is bad; margarine is good/margarine is bad…. etc etc.
And, what’s worse, all of these ‘idiots’ are on my payroll!
Besides, most of them are sickly looking and (mercifully) die young.
So will we see all references to fancy salt banned in TL? No more fleur de sel, salt caramels, or lauding restaurants that use salt?
Didn’t think so, just exulting in the power to control proles.
John Smith, you don’t state who is doing the flip-flopping. Let it be pointed out though, scientists don’t do these flip-flops. Scientists stick to the facts. It’s the sensationalist media that tacks a dramatic headline on to every study. There is no doubt that the amount of salt we consume is a leading contributor to heart disease.
Not so mercifully, people like you, who don’t take dietary choices seriously, die prematurely. The unfortunate part is, it’s often a process delayed indefinitely through medical intervention on _my_ payroll.
What are the chances that John R. Smith is fat as a house? 100%?
John R. Smith chooses not to learn from the evidence. He might learn through osmosis – and it won’t be pleasant.
I agree with John .. now you can pick on two of us instead of commenting on the story.
The longer we are alive .. the more we eat .. it would be in the food industries best interest to keep us alive.
and all the health nuts .. suffer .. it is just too bad for you as I am going to enjoy eating whatever I want in front of you savouring every bite :P
We’ll I’m skeptical that salt is bad. I like salty things myself and my BP is fine (105 – 115). But over Christmas dinner a doctor friend said when the put in place sodium reductions plans in Europe, heart attack and stroke rates fell. Simple as that. Put in seat belts, and less people die in car crashes. Reduce smoking and less people get lung cancer. Doesn’t mean salt is bad for any one person, just like some people smoke and don’t get lung cancer. And just like some people who wear seat belts never have and accident, and some people who do wear seat belts still die in car accidents. These individual cases are meaningless. You have to study all cases across the population statistically to see the real effect.
@Francis
That’s the true scientific way of looking at it; it’s in the numbers (big numbers).
The problem problem with salt is that the body builds a tolerance to the taste of salt fairly quickly and which is why most foods in restaurants are too salty for me. By reducing your baseline intake, your tolerance will go down and foods that you couldn’t taste before will taste as salty as they’ve ever been.
The point is that Harper is at it again. Cancel this, cancel that, elimintate this and that. It does seem anything good, potentially wise, gets the axe. Why fund childcare for example when you can use the money to build jails. I know a bit off the topic of salt, it is more the issue of Harper at it again.
Cheers