Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Good morning to all committee members.
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to present and discuss my private member's bill, Bill C-252, an act to amend the Food and Drugs Act, also known as the child health protection act.
Bill C-252 aims to help the youngest and most impressionable Canadians maintain and improve their health by restricting their exposure to advertisements of food with excessive amounts of sugar, sodium and saturated fats.
I am confident that all members of this committee can agree on the harms that diets with excessive amounts of sugars, sodium and saturated fats can have on the health of Canadians and, more importantly, on that of our children. In fact, research has shown that unhealthy diets with excessive amounts of these nutrients are linked to a higher lifetime risk of high blood pressure, high levels of cholesterol, diabetes, and cardiovascular and other chronic diseases.
Despite the risks associated with these kinds of diets, Canadians remain the second-largest buyers in the world of ultra-processed foods and beverages, second only to the Americans. It is clear that things need to change.
That is why my bill is proposing to prohibit the advertisement to children of food with an excessive amount of sugars, sodium and saturated fats. This is based on the key fact—which we know from extensive research—that developing healthy eating habits early in life is important to help to protect children from suffering health problems in adulthood. We know perfectly well the high rate of publicity and advertisements that children are exposed to every day. From TV to billboards to the Internet, children are bombarded by hundreds of ads on a daily basis.
A 2017 report on the health of Canadians has shown that over 90% of food and beverage product advertisements viewed by children online and on TV have been for products that have a high content of sugars, sodium and saturated fats. Evidence shows that food advertising strongly influences children's food preferences and consumption patterns.
For example, a Yale University experiment demonstrated that 7- to 11-year-old children who watched a cartoon show that included food commercials ate 45% more snack foods while watching the show compared to children who watched the same cartoon show with non-food commercials. It is therefore not surprising to learn that kids aged 9 through 13 get more calories—almost 60%—from ultra-processed foods than any other age group.
Having had young children myself, I know just how difficult it can be to ensure our children develop good eating habits. Although we make sure that they get all the healthy nutrients they need, the reality is that our kids are constantly being exposed to and influenced by ads that are working very hard to entice them to products that we know contribute to a poor diet.
The food industry also has recently recognized and acknowledged the need to better regulate the advertising to children. That is probably why in 2022 some of the largest food and beverage companies in Canada adopted the code for the responsible advertising of food and beverage products to children, which Ad Standards will begin administering later in 2023.
Although the proposed code is a good effort, its voluntary nature is not enough to tackle and solve the issue. Relying on adhesion on a voluntary basis and on self-regulation will allow restaurants, food companies, food retailers and advertisers to abstain from signing on or to withdraw their membership in the code at their convenience. Furthermore, the code explicitly excludes key advertising techniques such as packaging and labels, which constitute tactics and sources of exposure that are known to appeal to or influence children. This exemption, therefore, showcases the important limits of the industry's self-declared criteria.
It is therefore imperative that a solid government policy and a framework are put in place to achieve the results that we must obtain and that our children deserve.
Honourable members, I ask that you seriously consider the positive impacts of this bill in order to ensure a healthier future for our children. I thank you in advance for your efforts in advancing Bill C-252 towards adoption and implementation.