Cuisine Canada Scene

Cookie Crisp Cereal - delicious, but just how nutrious?

The CBC, CTV, and a variety of media outlets have recently highlighted a Food and Consumer Products of Canada and Canadian Medical Association Journal report on discretionary fortification, with the intent of streamlining regulation to allow the addition of vitamins and minerals to a wider variety of food products.  It sounds like this is a new thing, but Health Canada has been investigating the issue of discretionary fortification for more than a decade.  Even before the advent of calcium fortified orange juice, Health Canada has deliberated with how to regulate fortification to appropriate levels.  This recently came to a head, even verging on  recommendations for Canada Gazette review.

Discretionary fortification is the addition of nutrients to foods, with the intent of restoring and increasing nutrient levels above and beyond those found in unprocessed food.  For many, the concern is that discretionary fortification will allow junk food to be fortified.   In many regards, we are already sliding down the slippery slope.

So, my sugary cereal is fortified, and has to be fortified because it is a staple food.  White flour, which many consider the nutritional equivalent of a bowl of sugar, is fortified to the hilt, and has been for decades.  My tub of pomegranate flavoured apple sauce, or “enhanced” iced tea, because of added vitamin C and “antioxidants”, are not foods.  They are considered dietary supplements regulated by the Natural Health Products Directorate.  All this, even though the amount of vitamin C is minuscule compared to effective doses.  It was only through a blur of legislation that calcium fortified orange juice went from being a dietary supplement, complete with a drug identification number, to being a fortified food product.

One could say, the industry is reacting to consumer demand for healthy food by creating fortified products, but one could also say they are creating a consumer demand for products we never imagined.  The public’s vague impressions of health effects of micronutrients and phytochemicals do not always match the reality of the products.

Most food processors would just say we are really just matching the regulatory environment of our major trading partners.  All of my efforts to obtain a copy of the FCPC report have come up fruitless, however this is not a new issue.  The Canadian regulatory environment is slow.  Some say this is for proper safety evaluation, however others say this is just a lack of initiative, and coordination across all the regulatory bodies in food quality and safety.

Part of the push to fortify food products with micronutrients and other beneficial components such as phytochemicals or essential fatty acids, comes from the potential to making health claims, whether on the package, or through other marketing initiatives.  Marketers love touting the wonderful effects of their new product, real or otherwise, because health and nutrition sell.  We buy products with perceived health benefits, even if it is often impossible to eat the quantity required to consume an effective dose.

Health Canada has been also debating how to tread into the mess of health claims.  What an interesting dilemma, just because a healthy quality has been attributed to a food doesn’t necessarily mean that the health benefit will be seen by the consumer of the product.  Fortification of certain nutrients (for example vitamin A, or iron) must be regulated, as over-consumption may put individuals at risk.  But for many other nutrients, there is a lot of research to cover before we understand the effects on public health, both positive and negative, from long term and high level consumption.

So, are you for fortification?  Is a discretionary fortification “free for all” going to fuel junk food sales?

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Written by Dr. Amy Proulx

Photo © Tim Skillern Published under a Creative Commons License.