By ALLISON DUNFIELD
November 12, 2004
Globe and Mail
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/
Everyone is aware of the dangers of transfatty acids by now, NDP Leader Jack Layton said Friday, which is why they should be banned in Canada.
The New Democrats will use their opposition day motion on Nov. 18 to ask Parliament to vote on a motion to eliminate processed trans fats from Canadian food products.
Mr. Layton said Friday at a press conference that the move is something that all Canadians concerned about their health would support.
"Families want protection from dangerous trans fats," he said, "and the NDP is calling on all parties to provide it.
"Canada should move as quickly as it can to get dangerous trans fats out of the food our families eat," the NDP Leader said.
Canada has one of the world's highest consumption rates of trans fats, about 10 grams a day. One gram of trans fat is four to 10 times more dangerous to the heart than a gram of saturated fat, a release from the NDP says. It cites information from the New England Journal of Medicine that says consuming even one gram a day increases heart disease risk by 20 per cent.
Mr. Layton said the plan is realistic and is backed up by strong research and information. If the motion passes, he said the NDP would require the federal government to base new legislation on findings by the Heart and Stroke Foundation.
Denmark became the first country in the world to ban transfatty acids last year. Karl Belanger, a spokesman for Mr. Layton, told globeandmail.com that the NDP has looked closely at what Denmark did and has also worked with the Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation.
He said it has been an issue of growing concern among Canadians.
Mr. Belanger said the NDP feels banning trans fats from foods outright is preferable to simply bringing in guidelines for labels.
Food labels are often confusing and may use a variety of different words to indicate the same ingredient, Mr. Belanger pointed out. He said it would not be a huge cost to the food industry to replace trans fats with safer fats such as saturated fats.
Mr. Layton said in a statement that the food industry has an obligation to make foods safe.
"When a drug is unsafe, it's not subject to a voluntary ban or a label, and there's no reason families' food should be treated differently."
Mr. Belanger said he hopes that the motion will be passed in the House of Commons.
"Hopefully the government and other parties will be in favour [of this]," he said.
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