Question Period Note: CANADA’S FOOD GUIDE

A new Food Guide, including new healthy eating recommendations and supporting resources for Canadians, was launched on January 22, 2019.

• Was the best available evidence considered in the development of the new Food Guide

• As Health Minister, I am committed to improving the health and wellbeing of all Canadians and part of that is helping make the healthy choice the easy choice when it comes to food.

• Canada’s Food Guide encourages a variety of vegetables, fruit, whole grains, and protein foods, recognizing the diversity of Canadians cultures and preferences. It also promotes healthy eating habits, like developing food skills.

• Our Government bases its dietary guidance on the best available scientific evidence. This evidence comes from reports authored by credible scientific bodies that have independent groups of experts review and assess all relevant scientific evidence.

• We continue to ensure that the best available scientific evidence informs our nutrition policies.

IF PRESSED on evidence…
• To further strengthen its scientific oversight, Health Canada is establishing a Nutrition Science Advisory Committee to provide timely and independent scientific and technical advice related to nutrition, including current and emerging research within the field.

IF PRESSED on the emphasis on plant-based foods…

• The regular intake of plant-based foods—vegetables, fruit, whole grains, and plant-based proteins— can have positive effects on health.

• For example, eating more vegetables and fruit is linked to a lower risk of cardiovascular disease, while eating processed meat has been linked to colorectal cancer.

• While the Food Guide puts an emphasis on plant-based foods, it continues to encourage Canadians to choose a variety of nutritious foods, which can include animal-based protein foods such as lower fat dairy and lean meats.

IF PRESSED on how cost of healthy eating was considered…

• We considered factors such as the cost of food and access to food when revising the Food Guide.

• Frozen, canned or dried foods, such as dried legumes, can always be convenient and healthy options, especially when fresh food is out of season, more costly or unavailable.

• The Food Guide website includes cost saving tips for Canadians, such as information on meal planning, cooking at home, and reducing food waste.

Canada’s Food Guide
The new Food Guide is a mobile-friendly web application that provides Canadians with easier access to information about healthy eating, wherever they are. It includes many resources, such as Canada’s Dietary Guidelines for Health Professionals and Policymakers, Canada’s Healthy Eating Recommendations, Food Guide Snapshot, recipes, videos, and advice that will help Canadians apply dietary guidance in their lives.

Health Canada bases its dietary guidance on the best available scientific evidence. This evidence comes from reports authored by credible scientific bodies that have independent groups of experts review and assess all relevant scientific evidence.

Building on the Evidence Review published in 2016, Health Canada continues to monitor the most recent data on healthy eating. An interim evidence update on food, nutrients and health was released in January 2019. When reviewing evidence on food and health, Health Canada includes high-quality, peer reviewed systematic reviews, and reports from leading scientific organizations, such as the World Health Organization and the World Cancer Research Fund International, as well as governmental agencies, such as the report of the US Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee.

To further strengthen its scientific oversight, Health Canada is establishing a Nutrition Science Advisory Committee to provide timely and independent scientific and technical advice related to nutrition, including current and emerging research within the field. Health Canada launched a nomination process for this Committee in July 2019, and it closed in September 2019. Health Canada is currently reviewing the applications that were submitted during the nomination process.

Stakeholder Engagement, Openness and Transparency
Consultation activities on the Food Guide have been designed to promote the involvement of, and consider the views and perspectives of, a wide variety of participants interested in or affected by these initiatives. Health Canada summarized the results of the consultations through What We Heard Reports, which are publically available.

To maintain public trust in the policy development process, Health Canada has implemented a new approach for transparency of stakeholder communications on healthy eating initiatives. This entails publishing a table of all correspondence (other than written submissions to a formal consultation) and all meetings with stakeholders in which views, opinions and information are relayed with the intent to inform the development of policies, guidance or regulations related to healthy eating initiatives.

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