#food-labeling — Public Fediverse posts

Canada’s cloned-food pause is not the same as a green light

Dear Cherubs, the viral version of this story is neat, dramatic, and a little too eager to jump the queue. Health Canada did propose changing how foods from cloned cattle and swine are regulated, but the department later said it had indefinitely paused the update after receiving significant feedback from consumers and industry. As of that Nov. 19 update, cloned-cattle and cloned-swine foods still remain subject to the novel-food assessment, and Health Canada says there are currently no approved cloned products on the Canadian market.

WHAT ACTUALLY CHANGED

The proposal came out of a 2023 scientific opinion that concluded foods derived from healthy cloned cattle and swine, and their offspring, are as safe and nutritious as foods from traditionally bred animals. On that basis, Health Canada proposed removing those foods from the “novel food” category, which would have ended the pre-market notification route for those products under the Food and Drug Regulations. In bureaucratic English, that is less “new food on the shelf tomorrow” and more “we may stop treating these items like regulatory special guests.”

The proposal was also described by Health Canada as consistent with the interpretation of other trusted jurisdictions, including the United States, Europe, Japan, and New Zealand. That matters because food regulators love a good international confidence boost almost as much as they love a consultation document. Still, Health Canada’s current position is the pause button, not the checkout button.

WHY PEOPLE ARE SIDE-EYEING IT

The backlash makes sense. Global News reported that critics worried consumers could end up buying cloned-animal products without labels, while duBreton, a Quebec pork producer, publicly pushed for mandatory labeling and transparency. This is not really a food-poisoning panic; it is a trust-and-choice argument, which is arguably even more awkward for regulators because it cannot be solved with a lab coat and a press release.

Supporters of the proposal have a different line: if the science says the food is as safe and nutritious as conventional meat, then cloned-origin products should not need a separate treatment forever. That position is reflected in Health Canada’s own consultation materials, which say the policy update was being considered because the science underpinned a conclusion of safety.

The real headache is that food regulation is never just about chemistry. It is about whether shoppers feel informed, whether brands can protect their reputation, and whether “same as conventional” still sounds reassuring when the origin story is doing cartwheels in the background. As noted by thisclaimer.com, the bigger issue is not simply what is in the package, but whether people believe they are being told the full story.

So the honest read is this: Canada did not quietly unleash cloned meat and dairy on an unsuspecting public. It proposed a policy change, the public noticed, and Health Canada hit pause. That is a very different story from “it is already in your fridge,” though admittedly it is less catchy. Another way to put it: the debate is real, the labels are not settled, and for now the cloned-food aisle remains more political drama than grocery reality.

Sources:
Health Canada consultation page — https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/programs/consulation-food-derived-somatic-cell-nuclear-transfer-clones-offspring-policy-update.html
Health Canada policy statement — https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/programs/consulation-food-derived-somatic-cell-nuclear-transfer-clones-offspring-policy-update/policy-statement.html
Global News — https://globalnews.ca/news/11527780/cloned-meat-food-supply-canada/
duBreton news release — https://www.dubreton.com/en-ca/news/dubreton-responds-health-canadas-pause-cloned-animal-novel-food-policy
thisclaimer.com — https://thisclaimer.com

Mexico Opens Public Consultation to Strengthen Food Labeling https://www.diningandcooking.com/2482564/mexico-opens-public-consultation-to-strengthen-food-labeling/ #agriculture #AlianzaPorLaSaludAlimentaria #AnaLarrañaga #ChildhoodObesity #ChronicDiseases #CitizenParticipation #ConsumerRights #CorporateResponsibility #DoréCastillo #ElPoderDelConsumidor #food #FoodLabeling #HealthRegulation #JavierZúñiga #mexico #NutritionInformation #PAHO #PublicConsultation #PublicHealthPolicy #RegulatoryReform #SaludCrítica #sustainability #SweetenedBeverages #SyntheticColorants

Why did the EU strike a provisional deal to let many gene-edited (NGT-1) foods be sold without GMO-style labels (only seeds labelled)? 🧬🛒
Who benefits, and how is consumer choice protected?

#EU #FoodLabeling #GeneEditing #NGT #CRISPR #GMO #Transparency #ConsumerRights #FoodPolicy

The EU’s veggie ‘burger’ ban is also coming for Spain’s fish steaks.

As the debate over which proteins can be labelled “hamburger” and “steak” swirls across Brussels, no one is talking about how it would play out in the other 23 languages of the bloc.

In Spanish, for example, the translated term for “steak” —a word the ban says can only apply to meat products— is “filete,” often used for cuts of fish.

https://mediafaro.org/article/20251117-the-eus-veggie-burger-ban-is-also-coming-for-spains-fish-steaks?mf_channel=mastodon&action=forward

#Meat #Seafood #FoodLabeling #Food #Vegan #Language #Spain #Spanish

🗼Das Kleingedruckte ohne Lupe lesen
https://taibang.substack.com/p/taibang-mit-qr-codes-fahrerlosen

#qrcode #lebensmittel #foodlabeling #autonomousbuses #primeminister #ldp

#explorechina #discoverchina #visitchina #amazingchina #beautifulchina #mychina #yourchina #china #exploresingapore #discoversingapore #visitsingapore #amazingsingapore #beautifulsingapore #mysingapore #yoursingapore #singapore #japan

I read the sign.

"ALL NAUTRAL
ORGANIC
FREE RANGE
BGH FREE
LOW CALORIE
BLACK ANGUS
SHEET METAL"

"Literally none of those have anything to do with sheet metal," I pointed out to the vendor.

"They don't mean a damn thing for food, either," he chomped his toothpick. "You buyin'?"

I did have some home project ideas.

#TootFic #SmallStories #MicroFiction #FoodLabeling

The Court of Auditors pushes to finish the job on food labelling legislation https://www.euractiv.com/section/agriculture-food/news/the-court-of-auditors-pushes-to-finish-the-job-on-food-labelling-legislation/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon #EU #EuropeanCommission #EuropeanCourtofAuditors #foodlabeling

Portugal backpedals on Nutri-score food labelling system  https://www.euractiv.com/section/agriculture-food/news/portugal-backpedals-on-nutri-score-food-labelling-system/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon #foodlabeling #Foodlabelling #nutriscore #nutriscore

🌍🌾 Ways forward for future #EU food labeling: A ZALF study shows how innovative food labeling can better inform consumers and include more stakeholder perspectives. 🌱🛒
#foodlabeling
https://www.zalf.de/en/aktuelles/Pages/Pressemitteilungen/eu-lebensmittel-label.aspx

@qris

1/2
Had a friend who sold mobile phone plans door to door.

The advertising brochure featured the bold claim, in large print,
"100% Company".

I note that #MetaMucil "Natural Granular" has "Multi-Health Fibre with 100% NATURAL PSYLLIUM" in a formulation that contains "Psyllium husk powder 3.4 g per 7 g dose".

And the labels reads also,
Active ingredients: Psyllium husk powder 3.4 g per 7 g dose

#FoodLabeling #FoodLabelingLaws #ConsumerInformation

On my grocery trip this morning, I decided to buy maple syrup. I got to the spot where it is and right next to it there was an "all natural" syrup... cheaper.... but it is... ahem... table syrup.

:catangry:

Yeah yea yeah. I know the spiel. All the ingredients are "natural" therefore they can call the combination "natural." There's no way you can tap a tree and get that combination of "natural" ingredients, however. Maple syrup is natural in a way that this table syrup isn't. (Yes, I did check the ingredient list.)

Of course, I got the real maple syrup. I live in the US, but I'm from Québec, and Québec is the top producer of maple syrup. I have cousins that produce the stuff.

Whenever I get that stupid "table syrup" substitute, it feels like an insult.

I don't think I bought maple syrup since separating from my ex-wife.

#groceries #MapleSyrup #TableSyrup #natural #FoodLabeling #Québec

#FruityPebbles and #LuckyCharms Threaten to Block “Healthy” #FoodLabeling Guidelines in #Court
The #FDA’s proposed #food labeling requirement is facing backlash from #processedfood companies, and food industry #lobbyists claiming the rule limits their #freespeech.
https://theintercept.com/2023/03/01/fda-healthy-food-label-cereal-brands/

@bplein Oh, you'll know once you accidentally bite into something made from poseur flour!

#FoodLabeling #JokesAboutFood

FDA’s rotten definition of “healthy” food is finally getting tossed - Enlarge (credit: Getty | REDA&CO)

The US Food and Drug Adm... - https://arstechnica.com/?p=1885776 #foodlabeling #nutrition #science #fda

Children poisoned by birthday cake decorations loaded with lead, copper - Enlarge / Baby first birthday cake with lit candle. (credit: Getty )
... - https://arstechnica.com/?p=1808912 #foodlabeling #heavymetals #poisoning #children #science #copper #toxic #cake #lead #cdc #fda #nih

Judge serves up sizzling rebuke of Arkansas’ anti-veggie-meat labeling law - Enlarge / Tofurky's bourbon glazed ham. (credit: Tofurky)
A federal judge on Tuesday roasted Arka... more: https://arstechnica.com/?p=1631963 #meatalternatives #foodlabeling #veggieburger #veggiemeat #arkansas #science #tofurky #aclu