01.22.10
According to an article on Canada.com, Health Canada, Canada’s main regulatory agency, is making a move to allow food companies to add vitamins and minerals to more products—in part because so many companies are already using Natural Health Product regulations to get their fortified snacks and drinks onto store shelves.
Canada.com claims the head of nutritional sciences at Health Canada’s Food Directorate recently sent a letter to industry executives and public-health advocates putting them on notice that the government is working to give food companies greater flexibility to add supplements to more foods.
Health Canada is making this move because it is already swamped with food companies looking to get their products onto the market via a natural health product license. The problem is that the hundreds of applications seeking approval of food products using the natural health product channel are causing some confusion among consumers and authorities, which don’t necessarily view them as foods or natural health products. Therefore, in order to move forward with approval of most of these applications, Health Canada will have to adjust the rules for fortified foods.
Canada.com cites a backlog of natural product license applications as a major problem for the regulatory agency. More specifically, it says, last year there were nearly 500 juice and water products, about 150 energy drinks and 25 candy products sitting on the natural health products wait-list.
On the table now is a policy that institutes new fortification rules. Experts, however, remain divided about the new policy. Some don’t want to see nutritional ingredients added to junk foods, such as soda and chips, while others believe consumers could benefit from a healthier food supply.
Canada.com claims the head of nutritional sciences at Health Canada’s Food Directorate recently sent a letter to industry executives and public-health advocates putting them on notice that the government is working to give food companies greater flexibility to add supplements to more foods.
Health Canada is making this move because it is already swamped with food companies looking to get their products onto the market via a natural health product license. The problem is that the hundreds of applications seeking approval of food products using the natural health product channel are causing some confusion among consumers and authorities, which don’t necessarily view them as foods or natural health products. Therefore, in order to move forward with approval of most of these applications, Health Canada will have to adjust the rules for fortified foods.
Canada.com cites a backlog of natural product license applications as a major problem for the regulatory agency. More specifically, it says, last year there were nearly 500 juice and water products, about 150 energy drinks and 25 candy products sitting on the natural health products wait-list.
On the table now is a policy that institutes new fortification rules. Experts, however, remain divided about the new policy. Some don’t want to see nutritional ingredients added to junk foods, such as soda and chips, while others believe consumers could benefit from a healthier food supply.