Grocery stores and Canadians are bulking up on ultra-processed foods

The Star

“In the 1960s, the biggest supermarkets only carried 10,000 items or fewer. Big supermarkets today offer almost 40,000 products. Among those extra items are more kinds of fresh fruits, vegetables and nonfood items — but not 30,000. The vast majority of the additional food items are a huge range of ready-to-eat products, from cookies to snacks to complete dinners that have a characteristic in common — they are ultra-processed foods”.

“What can we do to combat this dietary crisis? There is no easy fix, but a number of important things can and must be done. Restricting unhealthy food and beverage marketing to children is a good step. Fortunately, just such legislation is being debated in the House of Commons. We need updated national dietary guidelines and education to help Canadians make healthy choices. Again, fortunately, the federal government has announced a new Healthy Eating Strategy, which includes revisions to Canada’s Food Guide and strong front-of-pack nutrition labelling”.

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