Provincial health ministers have agreed to step in with regulation if recently proposed voluntary limits on sodium levels in processed and restaurant food are not respected.
In July, the Sodium Working Group released its Sodium Reduction Strategy for Canada which called for cutting Canadians' daily sodium consumption from 3,400 mg a day to 2,300 mg, by 2016.
That working group, which included representatives from government and the food industry, called for voluntary targets. But the health ministers say they want those targets backed up by a regulatory mechanism that will kick in "should the voluntary approach not prove effective," they said.
The ministers told reporters Tuesday from St. John's that they accepted the Sodium Working Group's report. Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq says the food and restaurant's industries' progress will be monitored closely.
The health ministers also discussed the topic of medical isotopes.
Reports suggest that the provinces and territories have asked the federal government to pay $33 million, to cover the extra costs they faced when the nuclear reactor in Chalk River, Ont., went out of commission for more than a year.
The shutdown forced hospitals to look for alternative and oftentimes more expensive, sources and types of medical isotopes.
Federal officials are reportedly open to the idea of compensation but have not yet agreed on dollar figures and have asked the jurisdictions for a better breakdown of how the money was spent.
