Factsheet: Streamlining Food Regulations in Canada

April, 2012

News Release: Harper Government Protects Food Safety, Reduces Red Tape

As part of the Jobs, Growth and Long-term Prosperity Act, the Government of Canada today introduced amendments to the Food and Drugs Act that will continue to protect Canadian food safety, while reducing red tape that currently delays innovative and safe products from getting to market.

The amendments create new tools called "Marketing Authorizations" and "Incorporation by Reference". These tools will streamline regulatory processes, maintain the high quality of the science that supports Health Canada decisions and allow the Department to respond more rapidly to new scientific information.

The current highly inefficient rules and regulations cause long delays in the approval of some products that are scientifically proven to be safe and also affect Health Canada's ability to update food safety standards quickly when new science emerges. Here are some examples that demonstrate why the current rules have to be changed.

CITREM

CITREM is a product used to keep ingredients in infant formula, including important nutritional components, evenly spread within the formula. This helps provide consistent and full delivery of nutrients to newborns. It also prevents clogging when the infant formula is delivered through a feeding tube. Health Canada determined that CITREM could be safely used in June 2008. However, it took another 41 months for the necessary regulatory changes and approvals to enable industry to use this product in infant formula and other foods. Under the proposed new process, which will include consultations, approval could take as little as 6 months after the safety decision is made.

C. maltaromaticum (MICOCIN^®)

C. maltaromaticum is a food additive used in certain processed meat and poultry products to help control the growth of harmful bacteria such as Listeria monocytogenes. Health Canada determined that this additive could be safely used in December 2007, but it took another 36 months for the required regulatory changes and approvals to enable industry to market this product. Under the proposed new process, which will include consultations, approvals could take as little as 6 months after the safety decision is made.

Citric Acid

Citric acid is what makes lemon juice sour, and can be used as a food additive to adjust the acidity of a food. It is already allowed to be used in many products - including canned pears, canned asparagus, canned bean sprouts, canned mackerel. Since 2000, Health Canada has received many requests to approve the use of citric acid in other products including canned peaches, canned beans, tomato products, canned apples, frozen squid and canned salmon. In each case, regulatory amendments need to be made to add the use to the Food and Drug Regulations, using significant government legal, drafting and program resources. Some of these requests have just completed the regulatory process (March 2012) after several years of government drafting, while others are still pending. Under the new system, extending the use of a safe additive like citric acid would be much simpler, and would be done in a matter of months once the safety assessment concludes that its safe and appropriate consultations and notifications have taken place.

Arsenic

Currently maximum limits for various contaminants in specific food are listed in the Food and Drug Regulations. Because of this, every time these limits need to be changed, regulatory amendments are required. This delays the updating of these tolerances and can cause challenges for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency when trying to enforce the levels.

For example, for a number of years new science has indicated that the listed tolerance for arsenic in fruit juice needs to be lowered. While the process to change the regulations is underway, Health Canada has informed industry and the CFIA that the current limits listed in the Regulations are outdated. In order to protect the health and safety of Canadians, Health Canada is conducting health risk assessments on a case-by-case basis when elevated levels of arsenic are identified.

With these amendments, we will be able to more quickly reduce the maximum limits if new science justifies the change and once stakeholders have been consulted and their input considered. This will also improve the predictability and transparency of the regulatory process, and any compliance and enforcement actions taken by the CFIA.

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