The food industry will get another four years to comply with new front-of-package warning labels, with ground beef and pork now exempt..The new warning labels — intended to cut Canadians’ consumption of sugar, salt, and fat — were originally scheduled to take effect in 2022 and will cost industry a half billion dollars, by official estimate..“Some companies may choose to reformulate products to lower the amount of saturated fats, sugars, and sodium,” the Department of Health wrote in a report..Blacklock's Reporter said labelling rules were first drafted in 2014 and now will not take effect until January 1, 2026..“More than half of pre-packaged foods in grocery stores are high in nutrients of concern — sodium, sugars, saturated fat,” said the report. .“Evidence is clear, high intakes of these nutrients contribute to obesity and diet-related chronic disease.”.The regulations would see warning labels placed on the front of processed food packaging from cereal to deli meats that exceed 15% of the recommended daily consumption of sugar, salt, or fat. Foods would be marked as “high in” the three blacklisted ingredients..“The ‘high-in’ approach does not categorize a food as healthy or unhealthy,” wrote the health department. “Rather it provides information about high levels of nutrients of public concern.”.Regulations are aimed at cutting Canadians’ overall consumption of ingredients like sugar by 30%..Numerous exemptions apply. “Exemptions are used to help ensure the symbol only appears on foods where quick and easy-to-use information about saturated fat, sugars, and sodium is needed,” wrote staff..Sugar, salt, fat and vegetable oil do not require labels themselves, only as ingredients reaching threshold amounts in other products..Other exemptions include butter, buttermilk and milk, cheese, eggs, fresh fish, fresh fruit, nuts and seeds, raw whole-cut or ground meat and poultry or “foods in very small packages such as coffee creamers in single serving cups and mini chocolate bars.”.The health department in 2016 put expenses for food processors at $554.8 million. New labelling would affect some 80,000 different products..Warning labels follow a 2016 report by the Senate Social Affairs Committee that calculated per capita sugar consumption was up to 151 pounds a year. .The meat industry breathed a sigh of relief with its exemption..“Canadian families rely on ground beef as a nutritious and affordable food staple and an important contributor to food security. We are pleased with Health Canada’s decision to omit ground beef from requiring a misleading warning label," said Reg Schellenberg, president of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association..“CMC is pleased that Health Canada is exempting ground meat, like most other countries. This exemption will ensure that our members can continue to export their products without additional challenges allowing us to keep feeding the world and Canadians with our world-class protein,” said Chris White, president and CEO of the Canadian Meat Council.
