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March 1, 2012
Canadians want natural, healthy products. Regrettably, a lot of them wouldn’t
know one if they saw it according to a Health Canada survey.
Confusion surrounds the definition of natural health products. You would
reasonably think that they were just naturally derived, safe products that do
what the manufacturer claims. You would be wrong.
Health Canada’s definition is complicated. Space doesn’t allow me to spell it
out in detail but in summary they are used for: the diagnosis, treatment,
prevention of disease; restoring or correcting organic functions; modifying
functions in a manner that maintains or promotes health.
No wonder that three out of ten Canadians think that vitamins and minerals are
not natural health products when they are. Seven of ten think that organic foods
are when they are not. The same percentage of Canadians are sure of their
benefits, even when that certainty is not always warranted.
Understaffing at Health Canada and political interference don’t help. The
government seems to be more interested in creating opportunities for the heath
food industry than protecting Canadians warns the Centre for Public Interest.
When is a food not a food? When its “food-like.” If it’s a food, it must be
labelled with nutrition facts. One sneaky loophole allows manufacturers to avoid
such labels that would turn off consumers by categorizing them as food-like
under Health Canada’s definition of natural health products.
It’s a growing trend in the U.S. that the Canadian government would like to
emulate. Manufacturers want to sell junk-foods promoted as health foods by
adding a few cheap vitamins and minerals. Consumers who would not buy such
products if they knew they contained unhealthy fats, sugar and salt will be
deceived into thinking they are good for them.
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One such food-like product is President’s Choice Aqua+ Fruit Punch. The
label clearly shows the vitamin and mineral content on the front but the
sugar calories are nowhere to be found. Health-conscious consumers want to
know when the contents contribute to obesity.
It’s a real scam and not what Canadians want from natural health products.
So far, 700 food-like products have been approved by Health Canada; most of
them energy drinks, juices, puddings and energy bars. Another 300 are
waiting approval. Health Canada says they would like to regulate food-like
products more carefully but when?
Understaffing allows manufacturers to make untested claims. Ridovir claims
to be “a Canadian scientific breakthrough” that “provides a new solution for
the relief of bronchitis as well as coughs and colds.” Rational consumers
would think there must be some truth to this claim but in fact there have
been no published studies that show the contents of Ridovir (extracts of
ginger and goldenrod) provide any of the relief claimed.
There is such a backlog of products waiting review, and such pressure to get
them on the market, that Health Canada provides an “Exemption Number,” in
the hope that they will eventually get around to testing the claims made by
the product. We’re waiting.
Health Canada will not be properly staffed until there is the political will
to do so. Until then, all natural health products should be considered
suspect even though some of them are clearly beneficial. The reputation of
good health products have been called into disrepute by the practices of a
few. Meanwhile, with a Conservative government in Ottawa that loves all
things American and hates regulation of the marketplace, the best advice is
“buyer beware.”
David Charbonneau is the owner of Trio Technical.
He can be reached at
dcharbonneau13@shaw.ca
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