Canadian Food Inspection Agency
Comments (12)
Tuesday, September 23, 2008 | 11:55 AM ET
How is your food inspected and labeled? How do nutritional tables work and can you trust the "Made in Canada" symbol on your food?
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency takes your questions on the goods lining the grocery shelves.
CBCNews.ca wants your questions for our podcast called "Your Interview."
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Chat Questions (12)
Sasa
Food marked organic….
What are the requirements for the food to be marked as an organic food.
Do all ingredients have to be organic or…….
Thank you.
Tina Konecny
Who decides the "daily recommended amount"? And what if I don't agree with it? I don't want that much sodium and sugar in my diet.
Why don't they base the percentages on the package and say what percent of that package is protein, fat, sodium, sugar, etc?
Tyler Hall
Ottawa
Is there a difference in labeling between produce marked organic and processed foods marked organic?
Why is there no daily recommended intake of protein?
Terrie Hall
According to a recent Marketplace segment, if 55% of food is processed in Canada, it can claim to be Product of Canada. We all know oranges, pineapple etc are not product of Canada. What is being done to change this so labels will state country food is actually grown/raised.
John Jacobson
When 'ingredients' are listed on a food package or container, is the producer required to list non-nutrient chemical constituents that they add to 'preserve' freshness or delay spoilage? For instance Nutella is an almond butter and in the cap there is an insert with a hole in the centre. The consumer is instructed not to refrigerate Nutella... and it's shelf life is incredible - considering the constituents. Some Dempster's Whole Grains breads also resist mould formation and instead turn green over time. Does the Canadian Food Inspection Agency delve into antifungants and other non-nutrient chemicals in all our foods?
D.R.
Windsor,On
Why is " Best before " missing on most of the
products and very often misleading(eg.07/10/08- what is the year in here???) ?
Davin Lewis
Is it likely that Canadians will be able to have GE foods labelled as such in the (near) future?
Barry Davidson
In light of recent problems with melamine in food from China, why shouldn't all food products' ingredients be labeled with country of origin?
Geoff
Ottawa
Why can't we get "Servings per package" as a requirement to our labels?(Like done in Australia) it would prevent manufactures from creating a label which has the serving size as .6 of a package
Jonathan Strang
Why do some products not list percentages of recommended daily totals? This is something I've noticed frequently on protein or meal replacement bars. They just list the total grams of fat or sugar and these are sometimes very high, but disguised by the fact that there is no recommended daily percentage next to them. I've noticed this in some organic products as well.
Bob Horne
Insted of the complex system of measurement by serving why not label all products the same. This container contains the following ingredients by volume expressed as a percentage of that particular container.The consumer would then be able to determine at a glance the amount of crap and fillers that are in the container.
For example most canned pet foods contain a high percentage of water. If I want to give my dog a drink I have an abundance of clean fresh water from the tap.I dont have to buy it in a can.
Why are the long term health risks and possible side effects of the preservatives used in the product not clearly displayed on the container as they are on cigarettes. What makes you think that a preservative once ingested instantly ceases to preserve. It continues to function throughout the digestive process.
Is it possible that there is a direct link between obesity and preservatives?
Kenneth Gourlay
Ottawa
How can foods that list "partially hydrogenated oil" as an ingredient advertise themselves as having 0 grams of trans fats. I am aware of no hydrogenation process that does not generate some trans fats.