A new nutrition symbol will soon make the healthy choice an easier one
Today, the Government of Canada made an important announcement that will help Canadians more quickly and easily identify healthy choices when shopping and eating. A new front-of-package (FOP) regulation as part of the Healthy Eating Strategy includes a magnifying glass nutrition symbol to identify foods high in saturated fat, sugars or sodium, so people can decide if they want to eat it, and how much they want to eat.
“Diabetes Canada is pleased with this key step toward promoting healthy eating through the legislation of front-of-package labelling on many of the foods and beverages available in the Canadian marketplace,” says Laura Syron, President & CEO, Diabetes Canada. “As part of a broader healthy eating strategy, FOP is an evidenced-based tool that has the potential to help people identify healthy choices in the places where we work, learn, live, play and eat, helping to relieve some of the decision-making burden on the individual.
There are 11.7 million people in Canada living with diabetes or prediabetes, representing approximately 1 in 3 Canadians. Diabetes is successful at taking money out of people’s pockets. And it’s not slowing down. In the next decade, diabetes will cost the healthcare system an additional $1 billion. Healthy eating is vital to achieving and maintaining healthy weight and blood pressure targets, which play a role in the prevention and management of type 2 diabetes. Many jurisdictions around the world face a similar reality and have also implemented FOP labelling, based on evidence that it can positively influence consumer behaviour.
“Canada is following in the footsteps of the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Finland, Australia, New Zealand and Chile, where FOP labelling is presently in effect, and we applaud this move,” says Syron.
Diabetes Canada is pleased to work with the government to support increased awareness and education of this new regulation. Coupled with other important actions, like the development and implementation of a National Diabetes Framework to help improve the quality of life for those living with diabetes, front-of-package labelling will go a long way to reducing the burden of chronic disease in Canada.