Representatives of Canadians affected by food allergies and celiac disease are worried that planned food labelling changes could be scuttled because of lobbying by the beer industry.
The labelling changes, first announced in July 2008, would make it easier for people with allergies to understand what's in their food.
The new regulations would call for clearer language on their ingredient lists and would alert consumers whether the food or beverage contains one of more of 10 known allergens, such as milk, eggs, nuts or sulphites.
If the product contained gluten, it would have to list the source of the gluten, such as wheat, rye or barley. The regulations would apply to all packaged foods, as well as wine, beer, vinegar and spirits.
"When you pick up a product, you need to know exactly what's in it. You need to understand the ingredients so you can decide, ‘Is this a safe choice for me or my child?'" explained Beatrice Povolo, the director of communications at Anaphylaxis Canada
But the Brewers Association of Canada may threaten the passage of the regulations because it wants to be granted an exemption from the rules.
The beer makers say there is no need for a label on beer bottles that warns if the product is made with barley or wheat, because beer, by definition, has to contain barley or wheat.
What's more, says Andre Fortin, a spokesman for the Brewers Association of Canada, anyone with a wheat or barley allergy or gluten intolerance knows full well that beer is off-limits to them.
"This is an already highly educated population that knows that beer is something they can't consume without a reaction. They know what they can and cannot have," Fortin said in an interview.
He points out that the labelling regulations could be costly for small and medium-sized breweries such as Steam Whistle Brewery and Mill St. Brewery, who don't use paper labels, but instead use painted labels.
"They re-use their bottles up to 20 times," says Fortin. "So this measure would have serious cost implications for them. They're worried that they'd have to change their entire bottle fleet."
But Anaphylaxis Canada and the Canadian Celiac Association are worried that the brewers could use their influence to derail the regulations, which are close to being approved.
Povol says that her groups's executive director met with the Minister of Health Leona Aglukkaq in December and was given her personal assurance that the regulations were moving ahead and that it was just a matter of time before they were approved.
A final draft of the proposed amendments is now waiting for government approval. But the groups say time is of the essence because if a federal election is called before the approval process is complete, they might have to start back at the beginning.
"We don't want to see any further delays. It's been over two years since this process started and even prior to that, 10 years of lobbying for these changes," says Povolo.
Both Anaphylaxis Canada and the Canadian Celiac Association note that the beer industry has had plenty of time over the last two years to prepare for these labelling changes.
They say there have been extensive stakeholder consultations with Health Canada over the past two and a half years and point out that manufacturers will have an 18-month phase-in period after the regulations are approved.
They say it is too late to amend the proposed labelling regulations; either the government approves them or the costly and lengthy process will have to start over.
"This legislation is far too important for Canadians to let the beer industry put it off the rails. The health and safety of millions of Canadians is at stake," the Celiac Association said in a statement.
Posts
0 Comments:
Post a Comment