Reducing Artificial Trans Fat (Motion #46-11)
Moved by Noland, Sauvé. Approved on by the Sudbury & District Board of Health.
Motion
WHEREAS the Sudbury & District Board of Health passed motion #55-06 encouraging the Federal Minister of Health to act on the recommendations from the Trans Fat Task Force report: TRANSforming the Food Supply, June 2006; and
WHEREAS the Federal Minister of Health introduced a voluntary approach to reducing artificial trans fat in the food supply rather than the regulatory approach recommended by the Trans Fat Task Force; and
WHEREAS the results of the Trans Fat Monitoring Program, implemented by the Federal Minister of Health between 2006 and 2009, indicate that some progress has been made to reduce artificial trans fat in the Canadian food supply, a considerable number of products continue to contain unacceptable levels including many foods often consumed by children; and
WHEREAS in 2009, the World Health Organization published its scientific update on the health consequences of artificial trans fat, confirming that artificial trans fats adversely affect cardiovascular risk factors and increase the risk of coronary heart disease events, and recommended that artificial trans fat be significantly reduced or virtually eliminated in the food supply; and
WHEREAS products labelled ‘trans fat free’ are often more expensive than comparable products creating disparities in exposure to artificial trans fat thus disproportionately affecting people living on low income; and
WHEREAS the Toronto Board of Health passed the report Reducing Artificial Trans Fat in Toronto: Need for Action, July 2011, that calls for the Federal Minister of Health to regulate the amount of artificial trans fat in the Canadian food supply, as recommended by the Trans Fat Task Force, June 2006, and requests that Health Canada ensure monitoring of trans fat in the Canadian food supply;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Sudbury & District Board of Health support the Toronto Board of Health and continue to urge the Federal Minister of Health to implement the recommendations of the Trans Fat Task Force report: TRANSforming the Food Supply, June 2006, and introduce national regulation of trans fat in the Canadian food supply as well introduce a comprehensive, timely monitoring of trans fat with regular reports to the public; and
FURTHER THAT copies of this motion be forwarded to the Federal Ministers of Health, Agriculture and Agri-Food, the Chief Public Health Officer of the Public Health Agency of Canada, Members of Parliament for Sudbury and districts, Members of Provincial Parliament for Sudbury and districts, the premier of Ontario, the provincial Ministers of Health and Long-Term Care, Health Promotion and Sport and Agriculture, Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, as well as the Ontario Public Health Association (OPHA), and the Association of Local Public Health Agencies (alPHa) for distribution to all Ontario Boards of Health and constituent municipalities.
This item was last modified on June 12, 2015