Call for trans fat monitoring in Canada
In breaking yet another promise, the Harper Conservatives are putting the health of Canadians at risk
Trans fats are used to expand the shelf life of processed food products. They have no nutritional value and have been linked to serious health problems like heart disease.
Health and nutrition experts have been clear that cutting the use of trans fats in Canadian food would improve health, and would save Canadian taxpayers as much as $9 billion in health care and other costs over the next two decades.
It seemed like the government was listening to this advice. In 2007, the Conservatives promised to reduce the use of trans fats in food within two years, through monitoring and regulation.
They quickly broke this promise.
First the Conservatives eliminated a plan by Health Canada to impose strict limits on trans fats in foods. Now they have abolished the monitoring of trans fat content in foods entirely.
This isn’t the first time the Conservatives have ignored scientific advice on how to improve the health of Canadians.
In the last year alone, the government has scrapped plans to reduce the sodium levels in Canadian food, to make food nutrition labels easier to understand, and to control the sale of energy drinks to children.
The Conservatives are deliberately cutting strategies for improving public health. As Canadians, we cannot stand for this. Sign and share this petition!