Vegetable Oil Industry of Canada (VOIC) Position Paper Regarding Review of Canada’s Food Guide to Healthy Eating

Introduction

Health Canada has indicated that Canada’s Food Guide to Healthy Eating is under review.  The department has stated: “In 2002-2003, a review of Canada’s Food Guide to Healthy Eating will be undertaken.  The intention of the review is to answer the question ‘Does the Food Guide need to be revised/updated?’”  

Members of the Vegetable Oil Industry of Canada (VOIC) strongly support the review and updating of the Food Guide to reflect current data regarding healthy eating, emerging scientific opinion and changing demographics in Canada.  

Currently, the Guide provides dietary guidance focusing on animal-based foods (meat and dairy), which are sources of saturated fat. This focus is contrary to the Nutrition Recommendations which scientifically support a reduction of saturated fat for the Canadian population.  In addition, the Guide limits the range of dietary vehicles for calcium to dairy products.  These fundamental flaws require substantive revision to the Food Guide or its entire replacement with one that has its foundation in promoting plant-based foods. 

VOIC Position

Specifically, VOIC is calling on Health Canada to acknowledge and place a greater emphasis in Canada’s Food Guide on (a) promoting consumption of healthy plant-based fats which include liquid vegetable oils such as canola, soy, sunflower, corn, olive and peanut and (b) the inclusion of additional foods high in calcium such as fortified soy beverage and fortified margarine, a product that should be available to consumers.  

VOIC’s position reflects the growing scientific evidence that there are unhealthy fats that increase the risk for certain diseases while healthy fats lower the risk.  The National Academy of Science Dietary Reference Intakes (DRI), developed by American and Canadian nutrition experts, recommend that fat provide between 20% and 35% of total energy intake.  

The DRI report recommends dietary saturated fat and trans fat to be kept to a minimum level of intake. The report also provides recommendations for two essential fats, alpha-linolenic acid and linoleic acid in the amount of 1.6 and 17 grams per day respectively. Both of these fats are found predominantly in polyunsaturated fats such as vegetable oils, which are not recommended in the current Food Guide. 

Canada’s Food Guide is Inadequate

In view of these scientific facts, Canada’s Food Guide to Healthy Eating is inadequate in promoting consumption of healthy fats, vegetable oil-based polyunsaturates.   In fact, with the Milk Products and Meat and Alternatives categories as the only sources of dietary fat recommended by the Guide, it limits Canadians’ choices of dietary fat to those that are animal-based, thus high in saturated fat.  The Guide’s one directional statement, (“choose lower fat milk products more often”) is unsatisfactory as even “lower fat milk products” are sources of saturated fat. 

 Furthermore, the Guide fails to identify foods high in calcium, which are alternatives to milk products.  Again, Canadians’ choices for foods that deliver calcium are limited to the high-in-saturated-fat milk products.   

These errors and omissions are significant for both health and demographic reasons. 

            Health

As noted by Health Canada, it has more recently become accepted that healthy eating has become a significant factor in reducing the risk of developing nutrition-related problems including: heart disease, cancer, obesity, hypertension (high blood pressure), osteoporosis, anaemia, dental decay, and some bowel disorders. 

It has long been held that a balanced diet low in saturated fat is a significant factor in reducing the risk of heart disease.  Results of a Harvard University Study conducted in the 1970s and 1980s, focusing on 90,000 women and 50,000 men and subsequently verified by a 1989 National Academy of Sciences report, found that the incidence of heart disease was strongly influenced by the type of dietary fat consumed.  Consumption of plant-based monounsaturates and polyunsaturates decreased the risk while consumption of saturated fat increased the risk. 

Demographics

Research indicates that approximately 20 per cent of Canadians are dairy-intolerant.  Up to 95 percent of adult Asians are dairy-intolerant, 74 percent of First Nations People, 70 percent of the black community, and 15 percent of Caucasians. As indicated by the recently released 2001 census data, visible minorities -- two thirds of whom are Chinese, South Asian and black – now comprise 13.44 per cent of population compared to 11.21 per cent in 1996.  Hence, Canada’s dairy-intolerant sub-population is becoming increasingly significant as a percentage of the total population. 

 In spite of this growing dairy-intolerant sub-population, Health Canada’s 
 Food Guide restricts Canadian consumers to dairy products alone for sources   of calcium. Canada’s Food Guide recommends that Canadians eat two to four servings of dairy products every day.  The primary nutrient delivered by the “Milk Products” category, not delivered by another group is calcium (other than vitamin D with which milk is fortified).  The policy effectively deprives dairy-intolerant consumers of access to alternative sources of Health Canada-endorsed dietary calcium.

In addition, different demographic groups have unique cultural dietary habits.  The reality of dietary diversity was recognized by the Nutrition Resource Centre, an initiative of the Ontario Public Health Association, which produced a number of adaptations of the Food Guide featuring culturally specific foods.  These adaptations mark a good beginning in acknowledging the different ethnic communities in Canada, but this initiative is limited to the Province of Ontario.  Importantly, these guides expanded the “Milk Products” category of the traditional Food Guide to “Milk Products and Foods High in Calcium”.  Included in this category are fortified soy beverages, tofu, sardines and canned salmon.

Summary

It is in the best interest of Canadians to provide consumers with a greater range of food choices to promote the consumption of healthy fats and other foods high in calcium. 

VOIC is calling on Health Canada to acknowledge and place a greater emphasis in Canada’s Food Guide on (a) promoting consumption of healthy plant-based fats which include liquid vegetable oils such as canola, soy, sunflower, corn, olive and peanut and (b) the inclusion of additional foods high in calcium such as fortified soy beverage and fortified margarine, which should be available to consumers.  

Our position is that the following revisions should be made to Canada’s Food Guide to healthy eating: 

1. The Guide needs to acknowledge the body’s need for essential fat and the sources of healthy fats: vegetable oil containing polyunsaturates and monounsaturates.  A new category should be added to the Guide to identify typical vegetable oil products that contain these goods fats: plant oils including canola, soy, sunflower, corn, peanut and other vegetable oils; margarine; mayonnaise; salad dressing, etc.

2.      The “Milk Products” category should be expanded to “Milk Products and Foods High in Calcium”.  This category should include alternate food sources for calcium including: fortified soy beverage; fortified margarine; tofu; sardines; and canned salmon.

Note:

Canada's Federal, Provincial and Territorial Ministers of Health agreed in September 2002 to work together on short, medium and long-term Pan-Canadian "Healthy Living" Strategies that emphasize nutrition, physical activity and healthy weights.  Governments have called for submission by April 3, 2003 and VOIC will make its views on the Food Guide as well as other matters known for the purposes of that strategy development process.

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Last modified: March 21, 2007