Ottawa Dissolves Sodium Working Group

Responsibility for reducing sodium in Canadians’ diets has been given to a group critics say has too many ties to the food industry.

It makes food taste good but it can kill you. On average Canadians consume 3,400 milligrams of sodium a day, which experts say is a dangerous amount and most of which comes from processed foods like soups and salad dressing. In 2007 Ottawa created the Sodium Task Force to draft guidelines to compel food companies reduce the sodium levels in their products, but in December the task force was suddenly disbanded and its responsibilities handed over to the Food Regulatory Advisory Committee, an organization staffed by several people with links to major food manufacturers like Kraft-General Foods. Health Canada gave no reason for disbanding the task force, but critics charge that it’s a sign Ottawa isn’t taking sodium reduction seriously.