It’s been a few months since Health Canada slapped robust food warnings on hundreds of products at the grocery store, but not everyone is a fan.
The labels are black and white, typically in the top right corner of the package, and warn of high levels of sodium, salt, or fat.
Ali Chernoff, a Vancouver-based dietician, tells 1130 NewsRadio she understands the concept but feels it’s misleading.
“Because when you think about sodium… things that are grown in the ground, like brown rice, quinoa, a whole array of legumes, if a product has all of those ingredients, and I’ve seen it a bunch of times, where it has whole foods that come from the ground but there’s no extra salt added, those foods naturally are high in sodium. So, they’re going to get flagged.”
She adds the onus is on consumers to make the best decision for their diet, lifestyle, and caloric intake and says you really have to read the label.
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Chernoff worries some items, including good-for-you foods, like dates, for example, may be labelled as high in sugar.
“In my experience, talking to my clients, because I want to get feedback from them, they said if they just [go by the label], they’d be like, ‘No, I’m not going to buy it.’ They’re not going to do a deep dive to look at the label. They’re going to see [the warning] and be like, ‘OK, put it back.’”
She explains the key is to flip the package over, read the ingredient list, and look at the nutritional label.
“To be frank, I think the label needs to be revamped completely, because it’s also very confusing with the percentages and all that on the side. It’s not actually based on the percentage of what the product is. It’s based on someone having 2,000 calories, which is also not really realistic in a day. Most of my clients are not having 2,000 calories. It’s like one extreme to the next because… I also see a lot of athletes, so they’re more like 4,000, so even for them, the labels aren’t going to help them.”
Chernoff wants labelling on packaging to be simplified so people aren’t doing a ton of math every time they pick up a product.
“At the moment, [customers] should just be looking at the ingredient list because then, at the very least, they can see what ingredients are in each product, and of course we know it goes from the most to the least, and by the end if you’re reading ingredients that you have no idea what it is, that’s when you put it back on the shelf.”
Health Canada tells 1130 NewsRadio the warning symbol is mandatory on most prepackaged foods sold in this country, including those manufactured here and imported for sale.
The federal agency says some foods don’t require the label, including fruits and veggies without added saturated fat, sugar, or salt, certain dairy products like plain milk, plain yogurt, and cheese, because the calcium is good for you, and raw, single-ingredient meats.
Others that don’t require the label are products for babies, meal replacements, and nutritional supplements.
Health Canada says one of its goals is to assist people in making better decisions in a bid to help the growing population sidestep the risks of stroke, obesity, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and some types of cancer.
The warning is in place when the salt, sugar, or fat is more than 15 per cent of your daily value, which is considered high.