The company that has developed a genetically modified (GM) salmon has reportedly filed an application with Health Canada seeking its approval to market the fish for human consumption. AquaBounty received the approval of Environment Canada in November 2013 to produce GM salmon fish eggs at its Prince Edward Island hatchery—a decision that has been challenged by three environmental groups—and is still awaiting U.S. approval before its fish and eggs can be sold there. The company said that it “currently expects to market AquAdvantage Salmon in the United States, Canada, Argentina, Chile, and China following receipt of required regulatory approvals in the applicable jurisdiction.” See The Canadian Press, March 11, 2014. Issue 517
Category Archives Canada
Environment Canada has published a significant new activity notice that will allow AquaBounty Technologies, Inc. to produce genetically modified (GM) salmon eggs. According to the company, the agency determined that GM salmon “is not harmful to the environment or human health when produced in contained facilities.” AquaBounty CEO Ron Stotish said, “This is a significant milestone in our efforts to make AquAdvantage® Salmon available for commercial production. However, our eggs and fish will not be available for sale until they are approved by the relevant national regulatory bodies.” The company notes that Environment Canada reached its conclusion “following a risk assessment conducted by Fisheries and Oceans Canada involving a panel of independent scientific experts knowledgeable in the fields of transgenics and fish containment technology.” See Canada Gazette, November 23, 2013; AquaBounty Technologies News Release, November 25, 2013.
Speaking during a North American Meat Association conference in Chicago, Canada Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz reportedly called on the United States to resolve a dispute over country-of-origin labeling (COOL) requirements for pork and beef by including provisions in the Farm Bill currently under consideration in the U.S. Congress. Ritz claimed that the rules, now before a World Trade Organization (WTO) compliance panel to decide whether provisions found in violation of WTO obligations now conform since they were revised, have cost Canada more than $1 billion annually. He also indicated that Canada has already prepared a list of retaliatory measures it will take if WTO rules in its favor. National Farmers Union President Roger Johnson reportedly bristled at the minister’s remarks, saying “Recent threats by the Canadian Agriculture Minister are unjustified and out of line. As a sovereign nation, we should not take direction from Canada. They do not dictate what…
According to a recently published law review note, health care reimbursement suits modeled on Canada’s Cost Recovery Act and provincial litigation against cigarette manufacturers could be successfully maintained against the food industry for the treatment of obesity-related illnesses. Timothy Poodiack, “The Cost Recovery Act and Tobacco Litigation in Canada: A Model for Fast Food Litigation,” Brooklyn Journal of International Law (2013). The note includes background on the country’s universal health care system, a comparison of issues faced by plaintiffs in U.S. suits against “fast food” companies to issues arising in tobacco litigation, “including assumption of the risk and causation arguments,” and an examination of how the Cost Recovery Act can rebut those arguments, “making the Act an attractive model for potential future food litigants in Canada.”
Environment Canada has issued a notice directing manufacturers and importers to provide information about their use of phthalates in food and beverage contact materials, among other consumer products. According to the July 13, 2013, announcement in the Canada Gazette, the government has identified more than 30 phthalate substances for priority assessment under its Chemicals Management Plan. To this end, Environment Canada has asked industry for details about the manufacture, importation and use of these substances “for the purposes of assessing whether [they] are toxic or capable of becoming toxic, or for the purpose of assessing whether to control [them].” The notice applies to those stakeholders who (i) imported or manufactured more than 100 kilograms of any of the listed substances at a concentration equal to or above 0.001 percent by weight; (ii) used more than 1,000 kilograms of a substance at that concentration; or (iii) imported phthalate-containing products intended for…
A panel commissioned by Ontario’s Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care has issued a March 2013 report outlining a three-part strategy designed to curb rising childhood obesity rates by supporting families, changing the food environment and creating healthy communities. Titled “No Time to Wait: The Healthy Kids Strategy,” the report specifically recommends, among other things, that regulators (i) “ban the marketing of high-calorie, low-nutrient foods, beverages and snacks to children under age 12”; (ii) “ban point-of-sale promotions and displays of high-calorie, low-nutrient foods and beverages in retail settings, beginning with sugar-sweetened beverages”; (iii) “require all restaurants, including fast food outlets and retail grocery stores, to list the calories in each item on their menus and to make this information visible on menu boards”; and (iv) “develop a single standard guideline for food and beverages served or sold where children play and learn.” “Ontario is at a tipping point,” concluded the…
New Canadian regulations that took effect January 1, 2013, have reclassified energy drinks as food instead of natural health products and capped their caffeine content at 180 mg per serving. First proposed in 2011, the regulations aim to address concerns that consumers imbibing such beverages could exceed the maximum caffeine intake levels recommended by Health Canada. “Therefore, Health Canada conducted a scientific assessment of the potential hazards and exposure associated with the common ingredients found in these caffeinated beverages (including caffeine, vitamins, minerals, taurine etc.),” stated the agency, which ultimately reported that children and adolescents were “most at risk of exceeding Health Canada’s Recommended Maximum Daily Intakes (RMDI) for caffeine because of the volumes potentially consumed and the lower RMDI established for these populations, in comparison to adults.” In particular, the new regulations establish “an initial maximum limit for total caffeine of 400 mg per liter with a maximum amount…
Health Canada has issued a notice of modification adding steviol glycosides derived from the stevia plant to its list of permitted sweeteners. After concluding a technical consultation published on July 31, 2012, in response to three separate food additive submissions, Health Canada has evidently agreed that “available data support the safety and efficacy of steviol glycosides when used as described.” The revised list of permitted sweeteners authorizes the use of steviol glycosides as a tabletop sweetener and as a food additive in a number of food categories, including those pertaining to breakfast cereals, confections, nut and peanut spreads, fruit spreads, sauces, beverages, baking mixes, desserts, chewing gum, and condiments. Health Canada has directed food labeling questions about the use of common names for steviol glycosides, such as “purified stevia extract” and “stevia leaf extracts,” to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
Canadian Governor General David Johnson has approved through royal assent the Safe Food for Canadians Act (SFCA), which aims to improve food safety by focusing on unsafe practices, import surveillance and food traceability. Passed unanimously by the House of Commons, the act consolidates some of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s (CFIA’s) existing food commodity statutes—including the Fish Inspection Act, Meat Inspection Act, Canada Agricultural Products Act, and Consumer Packaging and Labeling Act—although the Food and Drug Act will continue to provide “overarching protection for consumers from any foods that are unsuitable for consumption, including those marketed exclusively within provinces.” In particular, SFCA expands CFIA’s authority to address food safety risks, deter deceptive practices and develop regulations for tracing and recalling food. The act also gives CFIA the authority to certify all Canadian food commodities destined for export and reinforces import controls by “including powers to register or license importers,” with…
Health Canada has released an updated assessment of bisphenol A (BPA), concluding that dietary exposure through food sources “is not expected to pose a health risk.” The September 2012 assessment takes into account surveys performed after the agency issued its first conclusions in 2008, when it found “Probable Daily Intakes (PDI) for BPA of 0.18 µg/kg bw/day for the general population and 1.35 µg/kg bw/day for infants.” These surveys sought to measure concentrations of BPA in canned drink products, bottled water products, canned food products, and soft drink and beer products, as well as in total diet samples. Based on Health Canada’s probabilistic exposure assessment, the new survey results have revised the 2008 PDIs downward for both the general populations and infants. In particular, the agency reported a mean exposure to BPA of 0.055 µg/kg bw/day for the general population, “which is approximately 3 times lower than the intake calculated using…
