Health Canada Approves New Functional Health Claim
Health Canada has approved a new health claim for unsaturated fats that will help consumers make more informed choices about the foods they eat.
On Feb. 22, 2012, Health Canada, in conjunction with the Vegetable Oil Industry of Canada (VOIC), announced that food processors can now use a new health claim advising consumers to help lower blood cholesterol levels by replacing saturated fats with mono- and polyunsaturated fats from vegetable oils.
The claim will be used by the vegetable oil industry on food packaging and other platforms to communicate to Canadians about the benefits of replacing animal fats with vegetable oils, such as Omega-9 Canola Oil.
This announcement is an important step forward in reducing the incidents of heart disease in Canada: high cholesterol levels are a risk factor in heart disease; and more than 40 percent of Canadians have high blood cholesterol levels. By allowing the food industry to clearly label their products as high in mono- and polyunsaturated, consumers will now find it easier to make healthier choices.
Health Canada applies some of the most rigorous standards for health claims anywhere, currently approving only nine functional health claims for use on food products. While this can limit the amount of information available to Canadians at the point of sale, it also helps ensure functional health claims on foods sold in Canada have very high credibility with consumers.
Research submitted to Health Canada in support of the application for approval of the claim found that reducing total cholesterol by 1 percent reduces the risk of heart disease by 2 percent. It also showed that, when saturated fats are replaced with unsaturated fats in individual diets, total cholesterol can drop by as much as 20 percent — resulting in “a very meaningful” reduction in a risk factor for heart disease.
VOIC has been instrumental in having this latest functional health claim approved by Health Canada. Furthermore, the association has developed an easily recognisable logo that can be used on the label of foods that meet the strict criteria set out by Health Canada.
According to Heart and Stroke Foundation data, heart disease accounted for 29 percent of all deaths in Canada in 2008 or for as many as 69,500 individual deaths. The new labelling will make it easier for Canadians to choose healthier foods made with vegetable oils, such as Omega-9 Canola Oils — and thereby help reduce the risk of heart disease in Canada.
