Practices and Malpractice in Canadian Food Labelling

If you were to go to a restaurant, you would want to know what the nutritional values of the food were, would you not? The labels you see on bags of potato chips or a drink are called nutritional labels (also known as food labels), which show you how much calories, proteins, fats, or a lot more that the item has. In fact, the government made it illegal to make products to sell at stores without the nutritional label. Did you know that restaurants are not required by law to have a label on any of their products? The government needs to make a law to make restaurants put the nutritional values on their foods.

Its seems obvious that the organization with food in its name, the Food and Drug Administration, should be in charge of our country's food safety and food labels. This agency has the experience and knowledge to devise a labeling standard that incorporates all pertinent information. I have confidence in the FDA.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) enforces these laws by inspecting the biosecurity, which involves preventing and managing disease. (web)

In today’s society there are regulations in place for everything- from the safety of children’s toys to road construction to food processing and packaging. “Regulations consist of requirements the government imposes on private firms and individuals to achieve government’s purposes” (Litan, 2008). Regulations are in place to protect businesses, producers, consumers, individuals, animals, and even the environment. For example, the packaging and labelling regulations in Canada protects the consumers and producers of the many food products produced in Canada, one of which is honey. This paper will focus on the packaging and labelling requirements of Canadian honey through discussion of the regulations, stakeholders and the opposition of stakeholders

The Food Drug and Cosmetic Act contains a labeling law for any positive and negative “material” changes to the nutrition of food. For example, trans fats are labeled because they are related to cardiovascular disease (Murphy). Products containing peanuts and other allergens are required to be labeled due to the potential adverse health effects if eaten by individuals with nut or other allergies. In 1992, the Food and Drug Administration addressed the labeling of GMOs in a policy statement amended to the act. The policy states that foods developed by genetic

Recently, American culture observed a kick in health food and exercise. Even so, our nation’s reputation continues to include obesity and junk food as common traits. The main culprits in the American diet come wrapped in a package. Preservatives, sweeteners, and dyes hide within most of the foods we eat. Even meats, vegetables, and “health foods” contain these things, but why? Efficiency in production and consumer appeal persuade businesses to include these ingredients. We have taught ourselves to ignore labels and warnings as long as the product tastes good. It should be easy to educate ourselves about various ingredients, but nothing could be further from the truth. Everyone on the internet expresses a different opinion: random people that

Organic. Cage Free. Free Range. Grass Fed. Non-GMO. These descriptors are used in grocery stores across the United States of America and are a major component of guiding consumers through their purchasing decisions. However, since these labels usually appear without any description, how do consumers know what do these labels really mean? Furthermore, how do food producers and their governing organizations decide when a label can be applied? The meat, egg, and produce industry are all affected by this nomenclature system. Therefore, the everyday consumer comes in contact with these labels every time they make a food purchase and often rely on them to help them make the healthier and more ethical food choice. But are these labels really denoting ethical sourcing, improved health benefits, and how strictly is the labeling regulated?

After presenting the arguments of proponents and opponents of the Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act. This paper will now analyze each issue to determine the strengths and weakness of each side’s argument. One argument that proponents make about genetically modified food is that they are no different than natural foods. An argument that opponents make is that genetically modified organisms have not been tested enough because they are fairly new and some scientist truly don’t have an understanding of how it will affect humans bodies differently than natural foods. Proponents argue that genetically engineered foods have no needs for labeling; it would lead to consumer confusion. Opponents argue that consumers have the right to know what is in the foods they are eating and supporting.

Whenever I eat something or go out shopping for groceries, I am often concerned about what I am about to eat has in it. Most people turn the container or packaging around to inform them of what percentage of sugars, carbohydrates or sodium is in what they are about to eat. Then majority of people would believe that since they are unhealthy, it is the labels fault for not being truthful or informative. However, when this comes to my mind, I rest assured knowing that the Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, is honest about their food labels. Ever since the Food and Drug Administration was founded in 1906, because of the Food and Drugs act, this organization has put into motion better, healthy lifestyles for individuals. Even though most people

In conclusion They need to label it because of Health,Unhealthy stuff in the food and we need to eat at home more.Those are the reasons why they should label

Overall, about 60% of Canadians are eating out one or more times per week, and nearly 40% of Canadians eat out at least a few times per week (16). Moreover, approximately 25-30% of Canadians food spending is on food eaten away from home (16). Canadian consumers face barriers to regularly dining out such as the high levels and wide variation in the calories and sodium content of foods, the large portion sizes, and misleading marketing claims on restaurant menus (16). The Nutrition Facts label, provides nutritional information for food products purchased at grocery stores, however, prior to January 1st 2017, nutrition facts such as the calorie content were not easily accessible for consumers dining at Ontario restaurants (1). Currently, Ontario is the only province in Canada to enforce a calorie labeling legislation in food service operations with 20 or more locations (4).

Labeling food is a good thing. Many people in the world have started working out and watching what they eat. Labeling food can help people choose the food that they want and how to balance it. If food was labeled many people could be in shape and not over weight. Many people that keep a good nutrition because of the labels are slim and in a great physical form. Labeling has proven to decrease the percent of people that are over weight. The author of ,"Label the Meals," stated that ever since it was a law to label food that people have been more physical and productive.

While I would enjoy stricter laws pertaining to our food supply, just having more of them will not make our food safer; it will only make it costlier. I am retired with a fixed income and I hate seeing the food prices go up. If food prices go up, my quality of life will go down because of the lifestyle changes I will be forced to make. In addition to being more costly, there is no guarantee that state to state laws will even complete the objective of having more transparent labeling. We need to do everything possible to keep costs down while maintaining high levels of quality and the Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act of 2015 can accomplish

In the article “Added Sugars Labeling Proposal” by Bruce Silverglade, I agree with the author that “The FDA should take Health Canada's lead and ditch its added sugars labeling proposal” (Silverglade, 2015). Moreover, I agree with Silverglade that the FDA should take Canada's approach towards labeling sugars because Canada's proposal for enhancing sugar labels sounds a lot easier for most people to read and comprehend. Furthermore, not only is Canada's label easier to understand, but it also gives people a better understanding of how much sugar they should be consuming, as well as the types of sugars included. Not only is Canada's proposal simpler to understand, but when Canadian consumers were presented with both Canada's and the U.S. proposal,

Fraser foods must consider any new or upcoming laws and be able to implement them. E.g. every product Fraser Foods produce must have a label with all then ingredients in it. It must also contain a colour coded contents chart for consumers to be able to clearly see the amount of calories or salt within a product under U.K law.