Voluntary trans fat reduction period ends

(July 13/09) The two-year period for the voluntary reduction of trans fats in menu items concluded at the end of June, but CRFA remains active on the issue, pushing for national trans fat regulations.

In a meeting with federal Minister of Health Leona Aglukkaq, CRFA argued for national standards on trans fat as a means of avoiding a patchwork of local regulations.  The minister indicated that no decision on a national regulatory framework will be made until the release of the final round of Health Canada’s trans fat monitoring data, which is expected to be published in the next few weeks.  It remains to be seen whether national regulations will be sufficient to encourage provincial and municipal authorities to back down from local trans fat ban initiatives.  

CRFA also used the June meeting as an opportunity to share industry’s perspective on a broad range of health issues, including sodium reduction, menu labelling developments in the U.S., acrylamide and H1N1 influenza.