American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer denied bail after being charged with killing Canadian couple
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer, one of two men charged in the killings of a Canadian couple in Dominica, has been denied bail.
Canada will require nutrition warnings on the front of pre-packaged food with high levels of saturated fat, sugar or sodium starting in 2026 in an effort to help grocery shoppers make healthier choices with just a glance.
The policy, more than five years in the making, will clearly label products with the so-called "nutrients of public health concern" that have been linked to conditions such as cardiovascular disease and Type 2 diabetes.
"These regulations are designed to make it easier for us to make informed, healthier choices," Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said at a news conference Thursday morning.
Health Canada said the new labels will complement, rather than replace, the more detailed nutrition information that's typically on the back of food packaging.
In general, they'll be placed on pre-packaged foods that contain more than 15 per cent of the suggested daily value of saturated fat, sugars or sodium.
For pre-packaged meals, the warnings will only go on items with more than 30 per cent of the recommended daily intake, and for foods sold in increments of less than 30 grams, the labels will apply if they contain more than 10 per cent of the daily recommendation.
The proposed labels were at the centre of controversy earlier this month when a group of ranchers opposed the government's plan to include warnings on ground meat.
At the time, the Canadian Cattlemen's Association said the policy would "vilify" ground meat and make people think it's a less healthy choice than whole cuts.
Now, Health Canada has exempted single-ingredient ground meat from the warning labels, even if it's high in fat. The product was deemed to have health benefits in spite of the "nutrients of concern," along with milk, many cheeses and fruit.
"Canadian families rely on ground beef as a nutritious and affordable food staple and an important contributor to food security. We are pleased with Health Canada's decision to omit ground beef from requiring a misleading warning label," Canadian Cattlemen's Association President Reg Schellenberg said in a written statement.
Packages of sugar and salt will also be exempt, as the government said including labels on such products would be redundant.
The plan to put warnings on the front of food packages was first floated as part of Health Canada's "healthy eating strategy" in 2016, and consultations continued in 2018.
But Duclos said the government is giving companies until 2026 to implement the change to help them manage the cost of packaging overhauls and potentially reformulate food so they won't be subject to the labels at all.
He said that's one of the program's goals, which came to pass in Chile when that country mandated similar front-of-packaging labels.
A year after implementation, Health Canada said, the proportion of products in Chile required to carry the symbols was significantly reduced, suggesting companies changed their recipes to reduce sugar, fat and salt.
The regulation has seals of approval from the Heart and Stroke Foundation and Diabetes Canada.
Mary L'Abbe, a professor with the University of Toronto's department of nutritional sciences and expert in public health nutrition, said she's also pleased with the policy.
She said a shopper choosing between two spaghetti sauces will now be able to quickly tell if one is considerably healthier than the other and make a choice accordingly.
"We know most consumers don't, in the grocery store, spend the time to turn packages over to compare one nutrition facts table to the other, so it will really help them make those comparisons," she said.
L'Abbe said research shows that after these warnings are added, people are more likely to choose foods lower in sugar, salt and fat.
While it's too soon to say whether it's making a difference in levels of diet-related health conditions, she said, modelling suggests that it will if people continue to make these choices.
"Some products, people will always consume even if they do have warning labels," L'Abbe said, giving the example of processed meat, which is a convenient and cheap option for many.
"I don't think people will change all their food habits, but I think many of the categories where foods will have front-of-pack labels, it will be easy to spot the ones that do (have a warning label) and the ones that don't. And that's the type of change that has been seen in other countries."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 30, 2022.
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer, one of two men charged in the killings of a Canadian couple in Dominica, has been denied bail.
Cabinet minister Dominic LeBlanc says he plans to run in the next election as a candidate under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's leadership, amid questions about his rumoured interest in succeeding his longtime friend for the top job.
A male columnist has apologized for a cringeworthy moment during former University of Iowa superstar and college basketball’s highest scorer Caitlin Clark’s first news conference as an Indiana Fever player.
Health Canada will change its longstanding policy restricting gay and bisexual men from donating to sperm banks in Canada, CTV News has learned. The federal health agency has adopted a revised directive removing the ban on gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men, effective May 8.
The United States has vetoed a widely backed UN resolution that would have paved the way for full United Nations membership for the state of Palestine.
Bayer announced Thursday it is recalling two lots of its hydraSense Baby Nasal Care Easydose due to a potential contamination.
Technology from the 19th century has been brought out of retirement at a Newfoundland gardening store, as staff look for all the help they can get to fill orders during a busy season.
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.
A group of suspects that allegedly defrauded seniors across Ontario and other parts of Canada using a so-called emergency grandparent scam appear to have ties to 'Italian traditional organized crime,' according to an investigator involved in the OPP-led probe.
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.
Molly Knight, a grade four student in Nova Scotia, noticed her school library did not have many books on female athletes, so she started her own book drive in hopes of changing that.
Almost 7,000 bars of pure gold were stolen from Pearson International Airport exactly one year ago during an elaborate heist, but so far only a tiny fraction of that stolen loot has been found.
When Les Robertson was walking home from the gym in North Vancouver's Lower Lonsdale neighbourhood three weeks ago, he did a double take. Standing near a burrow it had dug in a vacant lot near East 1st Street and St. Georges Avenue was a yellow-bellied marmot.
A moulting seal who was relocated after drawing daily crowds of onlookers in Greater Victoria has made a surprise return, after what officials described as an 'astonishing' six-day journey.
Just steps from Parliament Hill is a barber shop that for the last 100 years has catered to everyone from prime ministers to tourists.
A high score on a Foo Fighters pinball machine has Edmonton player Dave Formenti on a high.
A compound used to treat sour gas that's been linked to fertility issues in cattle has been found throughout groundwater in the Prairies, according to a new study.
While many people choose to keep their medical appointments private, four longtime friends decided to undergo vasectomies as a group in B.C.'s Lower Mainland.