Food & beverage companies help Canadians lead healthy active lives

22/06/05 Food and beverage companies are enabling Canadians to lead healthy active lives by offering new and reformulated food choices, providing consumer information programs on nutrition, and promoting healthy active living.

Industry's efforts are in line with the World Health Organization's Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health, which recommends collaborative efforts with food and beverage companies such as promoting healthy diets and physical activity, limiting the level of certain fats, sugars and salt in existing products, and empowering consumers with product and nutrition information.

"Obesity is a serious and complex global issue. There is no one cause and no one solution. Everyone has a role to play, including industry, and we are taking our responsibilities seriously," said Gemma Zecchini, Senior Vice President of Public Policy, Food and Consumer Products of Canada (FCPC).

Canadian food and beverage companies, through their national association FCPC, today released a national report entitled The Canadian Food and Beverage Industry: Committed to Healthy Active Living, which illustrates industry's dedication to help Canadians turn the tide on obesity and outlines achievements to-date.

"We're proud of the role we play in maintaining the health of Canadians and this report highlights some of the considerable inroads we have made and continue to make as an industry," added Zecchini.

The report is based on findings from the first-ever survey of FCPC member companies' activities in support of healthy active living. In 2005, FCPC conducted a comprehensive survey(*) of its members to document the activities of companies over the past year in support of healthy active living.

Survey highlights include:

Products and Choices

Food and beverage companies are offering Canadians healthier food choices through new product development, reformulation of products and development of new portion and packaging options.

-  Sixty-two percent of food companies introduced new healthy products in 2004.

-  41% of companies introduced products with less fat, 13% introduced products with no fat, and 19% introduced products with no trans fat.

-  22% of companies introduced new products with less sugar or 13% introduced products with no sugar.

-  Other healthy choice launches included Omega-3 products; reduced salt products; fibre and fibre-added products; calcium and calcium added products and low calorie products.

-  Twenty-three percent of companies introduced portion and or packaging changes to address concerns over portion sizes.

Consumer Information

Canadian food and beverage companies are empowering Canadians to make healthier choices by providing consumer information.

-  85% of companies use websites to provide consumers with health and nutrition information
-  83% of companies provide consumers with call-in support on products' nutrition profile.
-  69% of companies connect to health professionals and provide them with resources.

Advertising and Marketing

Food and beverage companies currently adhere to and participate in regulatory and industry-imposed standards and programs to ensure responsible advertising. In addition:

-  80% of companies are creating marketing strategies that include healthy eating and/or healthy lifestyle messages.

Promotion of Healthy Lifestyles

Canadian food and beverage companies collectively and individually are actively promoting healthy active lifestyles.

-  54% of companies partner with organizations such as Dietitians of Canada to promote healthy eating and/or healthy lifestyles.
-  76% financially support research, education and/or programs related to healthy active living.
-  58% financially sponsor physical activity programs for children.

"It's important for Canadians to know that our efforts are anchored in guidelines put forth by the WHO. We're committed to playing an active role in helping Canadians, especially children and youth, achieve healthy active living and continuing to provide choice for consumers," said Zecchini.

Industry's actions in this area are also delivering what Canadians want from food companies.

In an Ipsos-Reid survey conducted last year, Canadians said they are responsible for their health and their children's health, and they would like tools to assist them in making the right choices. Most Canadians said food and beverage companies have a role to play in helping them eat healthy, especially by reformulating and creating new products.

The Canadian food and beverage industry has also developed a voluntary Statement of Commitment to demonstrate its commitment and leadership in helping Canadians embrace a healthy active lifestyle based on the tenets of moderation, balance and activity.

Food & Consumer Products of Canada (FCPC) is the largest industry association representing Canadian-operated food and consumer product companies that make and market retailer and national brands sold through retail and foodservice outlets. In 2004, the industry employed 350,000 Canadians across the country, making it the largest employer in the Canadian manufacturing sector, and generated $22.5 billion annually in GDP (12.4% of the Manufacturing Gross Domestic Product). On an annual basis, the industry donates an estimated $33 million to charitable causes and over 5 million bags of groceries to food banks in Canada. The industry has a record of embracing world-class regulatory standards and is governed by 442 federal and provincial pieces of legislation, as well as thousands of regulations and self-imposed
standards.

(*) The survey was conducted in the summer of 2005 and was completed by 52 out of 78 FCPC food and beverage member companies (67% response rate). These companies produce food and beverage products targeted to food retail and/or food service.

WHO Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health

Obesity is a growing problem in Canada, as it is around the world. It is a complex societal issue that developed over many years due to many factors.

Correcting the problem will take years and the dedication and action of governments, individuals and many other stakeholders including the food and beverage industry. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) "bringing about changes in dietary habits and patterns of physical activity will require the combined efforts of many stakeholders, public and private, over several decades".

To combat obesity, the WHO issued a Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health in 2004, which among many other things encouraged action by the food and beverage industry.

Specifically, the WHO recommended that food and beverage companies:

-  Promote healthy diets and physical activity in accordance with national guidelines and international standards and the overall aims of the global strategy;
-  Limit the levels of saturated fats, trans-fatty acids, free sugars and salt in existing products;
-  Continue to develop and provide affordable, healthy and nutritious choices to consumers;
-  Consider introducing new products with better nutritional value;
-  Provide consumers with adequate and understandable product and nutrition information;
-  Practice responsible marketing that supports the strategy, particularly with regard to the promotion and marketing of foods high in saturated fats, trans-fatty acids, free sugars, or salt, especially to children;
-  Issue simple, clear and consistent food labels and evidence-based health claims that will help consumers to make informed and healthy choices with respect to the nutritional value of foods;
-  Provide information on food composition to national authorities; and
-  Assist in developing and implementing physical activity programs.

Food and Beverage Industry Response in Canada

Canada's food and beverage industry supports the goal and objectives of the WHO's Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health, as well as the need for a concerted effort by all stakeholders including the private sector.

Food & Consumer Products of Canada's (FCPC) report, The Canadian Food and Beverage Industry: Committed to Healthy Active Living, illustrates food and beverage companies' commitment to healthy active living, and outlines achievements to-date.

What Else is Industry Doing to Support Healthy Active Living for Canadians?

Individual companies are supporting many initiatives that promote healthy active living. In addition, Canadian food and beverage companies have collectively funded and helped launch a number of education campaigns and initiatives through FCPC, including:

Healthy Eating is in Store for You Program
-  To help consumers interpret the nutrition information on labels, the food and beverage industry supports Healthy Eating is in Store for You (HESY), an education program developed by Dietitians of Canada and the Canadian Diabetes Association.
-  The program educates Canadians on how to use the new Nutrition Facts table to make healthy food choices.
-  To help make consumers nutrition-label savvy, HESY provides the following resources:
-  a web-based virtual grocery store tour;
-  fact sheets;
-  frequently asked questions; and
-  interactive online inventory of resource materials.
-  More information can be found at www.healthyeatingisinstore.ca.

Long Live Kids Program
-  The Canadian food and beverage industry, through FCPC, partnered with Health Canada to support Long Live Kids, a public awareness
and education program for children developed by Concerned Children's Advertisers' (CCA).
-  Long Live Kids is delivered through two powerful vehicles: a series
of child-directed public service messages and an education program delivered to educators, parents and community leaders across Canada.
-  The PSA component of the program consists of awareness building television commercials for children underscoring the link between healthy eating and physical activity.
-  The classroom, home and community learning portion extends the impact of the PSAs with a curriculum providing parents, schools and communities with knowledge and tools to help children build healthy active lives.
-  More information can be found at www.longlivekids.ca.

In addition, industry invested more than $260 million to expand nutrition labeling on all food packages by December 2005. The new labels list calories and 13 nutrients so consumers may make more informed decisions.

Food and Beverage Industry's Statement of Commitment

FCPC members developed a voluntary Statement of Commitment to  demonstrate dedication and leadership in helping Canadians embrace a healthy active lifestyle based on the tenets of moderation, balance and activity.

Healthy Active Living - Survey Fact Sheet

In the summer of 2005, Food and Consumer Products of Canada (FCPC) conducted a comprehensive survey of its food and beverage company members to document what individual companies had done over the past year in support of healthy active living. The survey was completed by 52 of 78 FCPC member companies (67% response rate).

Survey Highlights

New Healthy Choice Products for Canadians
-  62% of companies introduced new products designed to offer healthier choices.
-  Companies introduced products with less fat (41%), no fat (13%), no trans fat (19%).
-  Other healthy choice launches include products with omega-3 fatty acids (13%), added calcium (13%), added fibre (9%), added
vitamins (9%).
-  22% of companies introduced products with less sugar and 13% introduced new products with no sugar at all.

Reformulated Products
-  62% of companies reported they had reformulated their products to be healthier. The elimination or reduction of fats, particularly trans fats, was the number one focus of product reformulation to enhance health value in 2004.
-  47% reformulated products to reduce trans fat, while 9% reformulated products to change/reduce fat.
-  25% reformulated products to reduce sodium content.
-  13% of companies reformulated products with less sugar. Companies also reformulated by adding omega-3s (13%), adding calcium (13%), adding fibre (13%) and adding vitamins (9%).

Portion Sizes
-  23% of companies made packaging changes in 2004 to address concerns about overly large portion sizes, half made smaller packages and 42% introduced smaller portions.

Many More Healthy Choice Products are in Development
-  87% of companies surveyed are working on new food products designed to provide a specific food and/or nutrient attribute.
-  81% are working on reformulating products to be healthier options.
-  75% are developing new product development guidelines that establish parameters for the formulation of the next generation of healthy products.
-  48% are addressing packaging changes in response to concerns about obesity.

Increasing the Use of Communication Tools to Disseminate Nutrition Information
-  85% of companies use websites to provide consumers with health information.
-  79% include information on the nutrition profile of their products.
-  83% of respondent companies provide consumer with 1-800 call-in support on the nutrition of their products, 42% use these lines to provide information on healthy eating.

Connecting to Health Professionals and Providing Them with Resources
-  69% of companies connect with health professionals and provide them with resources to support their work. Of these, nearly 97% provide health professionals with information on the nutrition profile of their products.

Advertising and Marketing
-  More than 80% of FCPC respondent companies are currently creating marketing strategies that include healthy eating and/or healthy lifestyle messages.
-  56% introduced marketing programs in 2004 focusing on how their products can be part of a healthy lifestyle.

Promotion of Healthy Lifestyle

-  54% of the companies surveyed partner with organizations such as Dietitians of Canada to promote healthy eating and/or healthy
lifestyles.
-  Many companies provide financial support to research, education and/or programs related to healthy active living (76%), health promotion and/or chronic disease prevention/treatment (63%), physical activity programs for children (58%), educational initiatives targeted to consumers on healthy eating (44%), healthy active living educational events, conferences or workshops targeted to health professionals (42%).

Workplace Wellness
-  65% of companies surveyed support workplace wellness initiatives within their organizations.
-  29% provide flexible time schedules to accommodate physical fitness programs.
-  Other services: 27% provide nutrition counseling, 23% offer on-site fitness centres and 19% offer on-site weight-loss programs.

Of the companies surveyed:

Corporate Head Office Location

-  54% are in Canada
-  36% are in the United States
-  10% are in Europe

Food Sales in Canada in 2004 (provided by 36 companies)

-  44% had sales between $100 million and $1 billion
-  17% had sales between $1 billion to $10 billion
-  14% had sales of less than $1 million

http://www.cnw.ca/fr/releases/archive/May2006/18/c9607.html