QUESTION PERIOD — Health
Advertising Directed at Children
June 15, 2021
Senator Gold, my question concerns the inadequate measures intended to protect our children against advertisements for unhealthy food products.
We are all, of course, familiar with the negative impacts of junk food marketing. We all debated it at length here in 2018, during the study of Bill S-228, which, by the way, received enormous support from your government.
I raise this subject with you today because the British government announced on May 11 that it would take advantage of its post-pandemic recovery to fight obesity. Among other things, by 2022, junk food ads will be banned online and will not be permitted to air on television before 9 p.m. It is an ambitious plan that reminded me that Canada hasn’t really made progress on this important file.
Senator Gold, could you tell us whether the government still plans to adopt strict restrictions concerning the marketing of unhealthy foods and beverages to children? It’s a commitment that has been part of the mandate letters of health ministers since 2015.
Thank you for the question. I will try to answer in two parts.
First, when it comes to marketing to children, I was told that the government has promised to ban the marketing of unhealthy food to children because it is fully aware that the food children eat will influence their diet in the future. The government also knows that banning the marketing of unhealthy food to children will help in the fight against childhood obesity, diabetes and other health problems.
I did not get any details regarding the implementation of this policy, but I will let senators know when I have any updates.
If I may, I would like to talk about another aspect. The government has promised to promote healthy eating. I learned that, as part of Health Canada’s healthy eating strategy, the department proposed the introduction of front-of-package labelling regulations for pre-packaged foods that are high in sodium, sugar and saturated fats, which are associated with a higher risk of chronic disease. After extensive consultation, consumer research and a Canada Gazette publication process, the final regulations on front-of-package nutrition labels take into account the comments received and are ready to be published in the Canada Gazette, Part II.
