Scrapping Food-Labelling Approval Is Dangerous, Says Food Industry

(Canwest News Service – Sarah Schmidt)

Industry leaders call the move dangerous, but the Conservative government is trying to sell a controversial decision to scrap a food-labelling approvals system as a way to help companies “take the lead in fulfilling their responsibility for consumer protection,” according to internal talking points obtained by Canwest News Service.

The decision to eliminate the Canadian Food Inspection Agency program requiring companies to get all labels approved for meat and processed fruit and vegetable products before they get to market was made quietly last November. Treasury Board also supported changes to the way meat is inspected as part of a strategic review of the agency.

Although no official announcement about eliminating the program was made, the agency in June prepared talking points “for internal distribution only.”

Robert de Valk, a food-regulation consultant specializing in labelling, says the reasoning doesn’t hold up. After reviewing details of the plan supported by Treasury Board, he said the decision to terminate the pre-market label approval for domestic and imported products is the “most dangerous part” because it undermines consumer confidence.

The former member of a food policy group advising the agriculture minister said “we are taking something that works and creating confusion in the consumer’s mind. When you create confusion in the consumer’s mind, their confidence drops, and that’s dangerous.”

De Valk, Canadian representative with the North American Meat Processors Association, joins a growing list of industry leaders opposing the move, even as the government tries to sell it as a business-friendly move to “reduce the regulatory burden by eliminating the requirements for mandatory label registration,” according to the taking points.

The Food Processors of Canada says the decision to cut the program is like “playing Russian roulette with the Canadian public.” President Christopher Kyte said the label review unit is composed of about eight people who play a vital role in food safety.

“They prevent mislabelling and unsafe products from ending up on store shelves. They catch things like illegal chemicals and misleading health claims. What we want to do is prevent these products from reaching the marketplace. To chase down these products in grocery stores doesn’t seem like a good use of our inspectors.”

In the talking points, the agency says ending the label registration program, which is expected to save $87,000 annually, is “in line” with other efforts to “refocus the available resources to ensure a greater level of compliance at distribution or retail level for the investments made.”

De Valk says this is a dubious argument. “It doesn’t make sense to do away with pre-market review to save $87,000,” he said, arguing it’s wiser to employ a handful of people to ensure labels are accurate instead of asking hundreds of frontline inspectors to review labels on store shelves. Read the complete article.