Roughly a year ago when I was initially writing my Canada's Food Guide to Unhealthy Eating series, I had a post detailing why the food guide matters.
I noted that not for one second do I think that Canadians put the Food Guide on their fridges or lug the ridiculously over sized 6 page document with them to the Supermarkets but rather that the Food Guide becomes Canada's nutritional backdrop.
Last week provided a stunning example.
Last week the World Cancer Research Fund released their report Food, Nutrition, Physical Activity and the Prevention of Cancer: a Global Perspective
The report is a brick. 517 pages long and it involved 9 independent teams of global scientists, hundreds of peer reviewers, 21 internationally renowned experts, and 5 years of time for them to review and analyze more than 7,000 large scale studies for the effects of diet on cancer.
Among their many conclusions was that red meat consumption is not very good for you. In fact they concluded that every 48 grams of processed meat consumed per day boosts the risk of colon cancer by 21 per cent and every 48 grams of red meat consumption beyond a weekly limit of 500grams increases colon cancer risk by 15 per cent.
Not surprisingly Big Meat was not happy with this report.
So who, or should I say what did they turn to for help to defend their product in their press release? Why Canada's Food Guide of course:
"Eating Well with Canada's Food Guide continues to recognize red meat in the diet. The Food Guide recommends 1 to 3 servings of Meat & Alternatives per day"And in today's Edmonton Journal, a letter to the editor from the Beef Information Centre states,
"The Beef Information Centre has many resources that can help Canadians continue to make beef a part of a healthy eating pattern, in keeping with Canada's Food Guide."Way to go Health Canada - once again, you've earned the moniker, Happy Corporations.
Oh, and still no word back from the Heart and Stroke Foundation.
Tomorrow will revisit the Heart and Stroke Foundation and their take on beef in explaining why Health Check matters.
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Hello Dr. Freedhoff, I just discovered your blog from CBC's Marketplace promo page. I will be returning here as it is most interesting. A couple of friends and I discuss health and diet fairly regularly, and are very suspect about all the artificial things that are in food, used to grow it, and how it affects short and long term health. I am endeavouring to cook much more non-processed food, especially red meats, use more organic, and just more fruits & vegetables, fish and "safer" meats.
ReplyDeleteJust last week I wrote a blog post about that big study released on the relationship between cancer & diet. Being a leukemia survivor this whole area is interesting. But what I also find interesting is what you've alluded to in this particular post - the "big meat" industry, and Canada's food guide relationship. That they would recommend 1-3 servings of meat a day is curious.
Our society is full of contradicting messages and forces - there is a certain amount of public service announcements about exercise, and watching fat intake, but there is so much more that government regulations can do, so much more information, and education that the public needs. However, the amount of public education on health is lip service.
Like oil, & banks, they are also heavy boys in finances, thus, they have powerful and influential voices, unfortunately for citizens, it has an unhealthy effect.
I may write a related blog post soon and reference your site. It's good to see this kind of usful information spreading.
Thanks Charles.
ReplyDeleteSpread the word - it's based on evidence and not conjecture.
Best regards,
Yoni
If you were to redesign the food guide what would your guide include(and not include)..keeping in mind that it has to be a simple, easy to use guide and cannot be too lengthy?
ReplyDeleteFunny...no response from Dr. Freedhoff to nc's comment.
ReplyDeleteHilarious.
ReplyDeleteEspecially given throughout the Canada's Food Guide series and all over the blog I regularly refer to the Healthy Eating Pyramid by Walter Willett as the alternative.
But feel free to keep looking for nefarious intent.