Finally, new labelling but...

The Canadian government is bringing about change in food labelling. A discussion paper has been released and the public now has the opportunity to provide feedback (see www.healthycanadians.ca).

The document’s proposals can be summarized into three categories:

• "Product of Canada" labelling would change to mean "all or virtually all" of the contents of a food product are Canadian. All significant components, ingredients, processing and labour used would need to be Canadian.

• The "Made in Canada" label would be used for any food in which its last substantial transformation occurred in Canada, allowing Canadians to support manufacturing in Canada.

• Other Qualified Claims, such as "roasted in Canada", "distilled in Canada" or "packaged in Canada" would still be allowed, provided they are not false or misleading.

The general direction of this proposal is a good one. The new "Product of Canada" label should satisfy the concerns of both farmers and consumers. It gives Canadians the opportunity to support the entire value chain and assures them that they get the quality product they expect when they read "Product of Canada."

The "Made in Canada" label seems to be headed in the right direction, but it falls short. While it requires labels to identify if the product was imported, it fails to require labels to identify where the product comes from. However, if we are being realistic, asking a large food company to identify all their sourcing on a label is unwieldy and costly. Alternatively, requiring a company to provide a reference to a website that provides the full details on the origin of their food products could fulfill the desire of the consuming public at relatively low cost.