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MULTI-STAKEHOLDER WORKING GROUP ON DIETARY SODIUM REDUCTION

TELECONFERENCE SUMMARY REPORT

The Working Group on Dietary Sodium Reduction held its first meeting by teleconference on February 22nd, 2008.  All twenty-three members were able to participate.

KEY OUTCOMES OF THE MEETING WERE:

TERMS OF REFERENCE AND ORGANIZATIONAL ISSUES

General agreement on the Terms of Reference for the Working Group, with a few remaining details to be finalized at the next meeting.  The mandate, as written in the Terms of Reference is:

Under the leadership of Health Canada, the multi-stakeholder Working Group (WG) will develop, implement and oversee a population-health strategy for the successful reduction of the sodium content of the diets of Canadians to be in line with the recommendations of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies DRI Report. 

The strategy will be multi-staged and will be based on a three-pronged approach that would include:

• Education
• Voluntary reduction of sodium levels in processed food products and foods sold in food service establishments
• Research

Agreement that a steering committee comprised of Mary L'Abbé, Chair, Health Canada, Phyllis Tanaka, Food and Consumer Products of Canada and Norm Campbell, Blood Pressure Canada, would guide the work of the Working Group.

DATA GATHERING PROCESS

Discussion of a data gathering tool in the form of a questionnaire, to be distributed after the conference call and used by Working Group members to identify what programs and initiatives already exist and what data and information are still needed, to help members start their work from a common knowledge base.

Agreement that the next meeting of the Working Group would be held in April or May 2008