Hi everyone,
My name is Hilda and I'm currently studying journalism in Ontario. I'm writing an assignment on peoples' reactions to the new Health Canada regulations banning low-carb claims on food labels. From reading the other thread on this topic, I can tell a lot of you are not too pleased about them, and for obvious reasons!
Besides being mad though, I'd like to know what you think the long-term effects of these regulations will be on the low-carb movement. Keep in mind that the rules don't ban low-carb foods from being sold, only how they're labelled/advertised. Do you think it will deter people from following low-carb diets, and that the number of people following low-carb diets will drop? Or do you think that people will just figure out how to read food labels and figure out what's low in carbs on their own? Do you think these regulations will negatively affect manufacturers of low-carb foods and the retailers will sell them?

Right now this is just for a class assignment, but I'm hoping to have it published in a local paper as well. This is a great opportunity for low-carb supporters to have their voice heard. If any of you could help me out, I'd be very grateful. In order to use your words and ideas, however, I will need to know your real names and where you live. If you'd prefer to email this stuff to me, I'm at holy_calamity_~hotmail.com.
Thanks so much!!

Personally, I think that it will be very good for true low carb eating choices in Canada. (Please note, I am one of those ugly Americans, and only visit Canada every few years!)

Unfortunatley, I think it will be used as PR tool to denigrate and negatively influence public opinion about low carb eating, and will probably reduce the number of people who actually try this WOE.

Real, whole foods are the key to success at low carbing, and most of the "low carb" products are not even very low in carbs.

They are just lower carb versions of the same junk food that these companies have been selling prior to the new popularity of low carbing. But they do attract a certain number of people who would otherwise not try low carbing, and those folks will be lost.

Those who actually read the well written, and well researched books about low carbing will still discover the truely effective elements of the WOE, and will make the kind of headway that many of us on this website have done, over the years.

I would hope that in researching and writing your paper you would explore the special interests that were behind the new regulations in Canada. I strongly suspect that you will find that the wheat growers, the bakers, the sugar manufactures and the corn syrup companies had a big part in the decision making.

JMO

You know, if a company can label something "delicious" or "great tasting", then low-carb should be allowed too. The other labels are subjective, so whether low carb is subjective or not, they should allow it.

Or take the damn "great flavour!" off of crap products!!!!

M

Again I belevie it is politically driven with financial gains in the end just as the BSE scare continues in the USA with a closed border, it is to benefit American ranchers not because our beef is bad.All these things are financially and politically drivenIMHO.

I think this is to benefit wheat rice and Twinkie companies although when I mentioned that I actually got a laff outta this Christina person who is the head evaluator for health Canada Dieticians.

I think those of us who low carb will continue, as we know the benefits but it will scare away newbies.
I wonder about frankenfoods….. like low fat products which overuse sugar in place of fat these low carb products some are good, some are not good and those of us who have low carbed on whole natural foods that Atkins et al recomends will continue to do so.

My biggest "beef" is that is it discrimination against diabetics who could have gone shopping and seen the low carb cans of soup or whatever and grabbed it and hurried on as we are all in a hurry but we must continue to read each label carefully, which I would do anyhow due to trickery used to sell products. So its to do it for one group like low fat but not the other group like low carb and discrimination comes into your life when not only are you diabetic but you are fat so its two fold.

I also don’t like the gov telling me old info like low carb is not good for you and using studies from USA done in 2002 when there are new studies done showing low carb lowers your blood glucose, blood pressure and cholesterols, (see Duke university or pm me and I can send you the studies as the Doc there sent them to me when I had to convince my doc I was better off on low carb than injecting insulin five times a day).

Hi Hilda.

I agree with WW. I don't think the changes will affect the average conscious low carber who understands that most of those products are crap, anyway. If it deters anyone, it would only deter fly-by-nighters who have no interest in learning about nutrition or reading anything beyond newspaper headlines.

The point, though, is that Health Canada is unfairly singling out these products. You can scream, "fat free!" or "low fat!" on your products and give them a name like Skinny Chips, but don't dare draw attention to the fact that you might have removed the sugar and starch? Doesn't seem fair to me...

It makes a statement, and that statement is based solely on parroting public opinion rather than sound science. It reinforces the myth that's already in everyone's subconcious: "low fat/high carb is the way to go." Never mind the fact that it's only made us fatter and sicker, never mind that there's no science to support lf/hc... I'll stop myself here because I know I'm preaching to the choir.

So overall, I don't see the changes as themselves as having a major impact on LCing, but the message it sends takes us backward in the quest to abolish the myths about nutrition.

Agenbite:
I hope you saw the 2 Letters To The Editor in yesterdays Ottawa Citizen Sept 28th. Page A13
One from a gentleman with Type 2 Diabetes who is glad to have these Low Carb products to enhance his diet options and the other who agrees with the opinions above, that Health Canada is responding to the lobbying of wheat and corn producers.

I am not pleased with this way of thinking from our Government.
I do agree with the above also. I will continue my LC way of life as this is the best I have felt in years. I will lead the labels as I already do, but I guess I will just have to take my reading glasses to the stores as I will be doing a heck of a lot more reading just to figure out which products might be low carb in the first place.

Marilyn
Dunrobin

Thanks everyone! Your comments were pretty much in line with what I got from interviewing retailers of low carb foods. Most of them agreed that the conscious low carber will continue to read labels and make intelligent choices for themselves. Many people did say, however, that the people that just jump(ed) on the bandwagon without actually understanding how a low carb diet should work will probably just jump on the next fad that comes up.
I've already handed my assignment in, but feel free to continue discussing!

I dont really care one way or the other. I have two eyes and can read a label. Ill see if its low carb or not!

beebuzz

Here is the real problem. If I was a manufacturer who developed a low carb product (not all are crap by the way), why would I sell it to Canadians if I cannot advertise it? I already face additional costs for labeling (french) and distribution in Canada, and I am suppose to hope that people manage to find it on the shelf and notice that its carb count is lower?

The end result is a reduction in choice for Canadians. Low carb ketchup is very helpful to me, it replaces the sugar with splenda, but now they cannot advertise that fact.

I find this rather ironic given I just saw a bag of licorice proudly proclaiming that it is "LOW FAT". So the Canadian Health department would rather me eat licorice then a soup with reduced carbohydrates....

Very sad if you ask me.

Brobin

OOps! I did it again...

no, I didn't randomly get married....

When I said some "great tasting" products are crap, I wasn't implying any locarb products. I meant when they have cereals or cookies or whatever that put some silly saying on the front that attempt to trick one into believing they are good for us!

I am getting annoyed by the media lately...

Mare

share your assignement hrre for us to read please

I totally agree!! The one that drives me nuts is the "full of crappy stuff" cereal bar that begins with "Nutri" (implying to the ignorant that it is a healthy choice). Grrr...really cheezes my lc crackers!!!

I always read the label no matter what as there are products out there labeled lc that I would not want to even put in my body. So as long as you know how to read the label. It should not make a lot of difference

I feel that the move to restrict the low carb labeling is ridicules. Food manufacturers and advertisers are allowed to market items as "low fat" implying that they are good for you when usually all it means is higher sugar and higher trans fat.
I don't understand why they feel the need to crack down so hard. Why not just put some guidelines in place instead. For example, set a maximum number of net carbs per serving.
I don't think that the labelling ban will have any impact on anyone who is serious about controlling their carbohydrate intake, it will just take us longer to shop!