Health Canada has quietly released its final monitoring results of trans fats in Canada's food supply, and the report shows harmful levels still exist in some products.
The Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada announced Tuesday that is has reviewed the latest Health Canada report and is calling on Ottawa to take action and regulate trans fats -- as it promised to do two years ago if high levels remained prevalent.
"Canada's trans fat verdict is in," Sally Brown, CEO of the Heart and Stroke Foundation, said in a press release Tuesday. "This fourth and final round of monitoring has demonstrated that levels of heart clogging trans fats are still far too prevalent in our food."
According to Health Canada, trans fats should account for no more than five per cent of a food product's total fat content. For cooking oils and soft margarines, it should be no more than two per cent.
In June 2007, Ottawa said it was giving the food industry two years to reduce the amount of trans fat in its products, and promised government monitoring of trans fat levels every six months in the interim.
On Monday, Health Canada posted the final report on its website, but Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq did not comment on the results. They can be found
For products tested in small- and medium-sized restaurants, along with fast food chains, cookies were the worst offender. Only 40 per cent had acceptable levels of trans fats. French fries were better, with 79 per cent.
The Heart and Stroke Foundation says evidence shows that, on a gram per gram basis, trans fats are five to six times more deadly than saturated fats. It estimates that consumption of trans fats could account for 3,000 to 5,000 Canadian deaths annually from heart disease.
"Once again, the levels of trans fats in baked goods, pastries and cookies, products which are frequently consumed by children, is particularly disturbing," said Brown.
Brown says including compelling food makers to add information about trans fats levels to their nutrition labels hasn't adequately tackled the problem.
"Without regulating processed trans fats, there is no incentive for many companies to comply with reduction," she said.
In June 2007, then-health minister Tony Clement said the government would take action if the Canadian food industry continued to use unacceptable levels of trans fats. He said if ignificant progress were not made by June, 2009, Ottawa would step in and bring in regulations "to ensure the levels are met."
Brown says it's time for Ottawa to do just that.
"Our federal government must act now to protect the health of Canadians and regulate. It is time," she said.
