News Release
2003-13
March 21, 2003
For immediate release
Health Minister speaks to the importance of nutrition labelling and launches toolkit for educators
EDMONTON - Marking Nutrition Month in Canada, the Honourable Anne McLellan,
Minister of Health, today launched the Nutrition Labelling Toolkit to dietitians
and health professionals at the Capital Health of Edmonton's "Building Capacity through
Partnership" Conference. The Minister focused her comments on regulations that will make
nutrition labelling mandatory in Canada.
The Toolkit for Educators has been developed specifically for dietitians and
other health providers to help them educate Canadians on nutrition labelling. The Toolkit includes
a series of fact sheets, speaking notes, posters as well as Consumer Tearsheets that provide
key messages on Nutrition Facts and claims. 8300 dietitians, diabetes educators,
provincial nutritionists and other key nutrition partners across Canada will receive the ToolKit.
The new regulations require most pre-packaged food labels to carry a Nutrition Facts table
listing the serving size, and per-serving facts about Calories and 13 key nutrients. In
addition, criteria for nutrient content claims have been updated and diet-related health
claims will be allowed for the first time in Canada.
"The Nutrition Facts table is an important tool to help Canadians learn more
about the foods they are consuming," said Minister McLellan. "The widespread availability
of nutrition labelling, coupled with effective education, offers a significant opportunity
to improve the nutritional health and well-being of Canadians by allowing us to compare
products more easily, assess the nutritional value of more foods and better manage special
diets. Our ultimate goal is to provide Canadians with information that is easy to find,
easy to use and easy to read so that they can make informed choices," said the Minister.
The new nutrition labelling system is intended to reinforce information about healthy
eating practices, increase understanding of the links between nutritional health and well-being,
and help people reduce the risks of chronic nutrition-related diseases.
The economic burden of a poor diet has been estimated at $6.3 billion annually in Canada,
including direct health care costs of $1.8 billion.
Consumers will begin to see the new Nutrition Facts table on food labels in the
next six to nine months. Large companies have up to three years to comply with the new
regulations while small businesses have five years.
As part of the toolkit, posters and a consumer tearsheet have been designed for Canadian
consumers to help them understand the nutrition information on food labels. They can be
ordered by calling 1 800 O-Canada (1 800 622-6232) TTY/TDD 1 800 465-7735.The Toolkit
for Educators and other nutrition-related information, including Canada's Food
Guide to Healthy Eating can all be found at Health
Canada's website.
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Media Inquiries:
Tamara Magnan
Regional Director of Communications
Health Canada
(780) 495-4688
Margot Geduld
Media Relations
Health Canada
(613) 957-1388
Farah Mohamed
Office of Anne McLellan
Minister of Health
(613) 957-1694
Public Inquiries:
(613) 957-2991
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