Canada currently fortifies a limited number of foods, such as adding vitamin D to milk and folic acid to flour. But these additions were meant to target a specific deficiency in the population or to replace nutrients lost during processing: rickets for vitamin D many years ago and, more recently, folic acid to help prevent birth defects.
Junk Food That's Good for You?
In contrast, the new fortifications would not be limited to specific nutrients. And since one of the main nutritional problems in today's society is obesity, not a lack of nutrients, experts are worried that this would add to the problem.
“I think it's just an advertising ploy and gimmick with no health benefit whatsoever,” says Dr. Tom Ransom, an endocrinologist and obesity expert with Capital Health in Halifax, in the CBC article “Health Canada Weighs Fortifying Junk Foods.” “My concerns are people might be avoiding healthy foods because they think, 'Now I don't need my apple a day, I can have a chocolate bar a day.'”
A report advocating the new fortification regulations was released by the Food and Consumer Products of Canada, an industry group representing companies that make food and consumer products. The group wants Canada's regulations to match those in other countries, such as Australia and New Zealand, and make functional food products available to Canadians as they are in some other countries.
In the Medical News Today article “Discretionary Fortification of Junk Food with Vitamins and Minerals Could Be Approved by Health Canada,” Lynda Corby, public affairs director of Dietitians of Canada, says the association is in favor of food fortification as long as there is a “clear public health need.”
But she, too, is concerned that Canadians will choose less healthy processed foods just because they are fortified. “We feel that children and youth are particularly vulnerable to this practice.”
Choose Whole Foods, Not Junk Food
According to Canada's Food Guide, people should pack nutritious snacks from home rather than buying snacks that may be high in fat, sugar or calories. Their suggestions include whole fruits and vegetables, whole grain tortillas with tuna or plain popcorn.
The fortification of a wide variety of snack foods with vitamins and minerals could change the way Canadians look at these foods. There is some dissent over whether this would be a valuable addition to existing products or if it would exacerbate health issues such as obesity by encouraging them to choose unhealthy fortified foods over healthy whole foods.
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