Canadian Council of Food and Nutrition calls on government and food industry
to step up education on food product labels

TORONTO , Oct. 30 /CNW/ - The Canadian Council of Food and Nutrition (CCFN) today released its 2009 Tracking Nutrition Trends (TNT): 'A 20 Year History' report. A key finding of the report is that food product labels continue to be Canadians' most credible and highly used source of information on food and nutrition. The report also reveals that while food labels are listed as a highly credible source, various statistics suggest that Canadians still don't fully understand the information that is reported on them.

"Based on the findings of this 20 year report, CCFN is calling on government, health associations, the food industry and all health related sectors to step up education of food nutrition labelling to help all Canadians have a better understanding of what their food contains," says Francy Pillo-Blocka, President and CEO of the Canadian Council of Food and Nutrition.

CCFN has been tracking various trends of sources of nutrition information for the past 20 years and product labels have consistently been rated as the number one source. In 2008, 68 per cent of Canadians reported product labels as their prime source of nutrition information, followed by the internet at 51 per cent and magazines, newspapers and books at 46 per cent.

"Canadian food labels were developed with a large number of stakeholders to ensure information is presented fully and clearly to consumers," says Pillo-Blocka. "The food labels have been well received by Canadians and now the next step is to help us better understand all of the valuable information on the label."

The report shows that Canadians tend to focus on specific information when looking at food product labels. In 2008, ingredients (80 per cent), best before date (74 per cent) and nutrition facts tables (71 per cent) were the information that consumers consulted the most.

While the TNT report shows that consumers trust and actively use the information to stay healthy, current statistics on Canadians obesity and other health related issues have reached epidemic proportion. This suggests that consumers still need to have a better understanding of how to use the information on food product labels for improved health.

    
    About the Canadian Council of Food and Nutrition
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The Canadian Council of Food and Nutrition (CCFN) is a leading, non-profit organization that champions evidence-based solutions and advocates for policy change on key nutritional issues affecting all Canadians. CCFN works to promote public understanding of food and nutrition issues including childhood obesity prevention, food surveillance, food labelling, sodium, vitamin D, and trans fat and more. CCFN was formed in 2004 out of a merger of the National Institute of Nutrition and the Canadian Food Information Council. For more information, visit www.ccfn.ca.

For further information: Stacy O'Rourke, Jason Squire, Trillium Corporate Communications Inc., [phone] ext 239, 227, [email protected], [email protected]