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New health claim approved by Health Canada
The Vegetable Oil Industry of Canada (VOIC) has obtained approval from Health Canada for a new health claim advising consumers to replace dietary sources of saturated fat with polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats from vegetable oil to lower cholesterol.
High cholesterol is a risk factor for heart disease. According to Statistics Canada, over 40% of Canadians have high cholesterol.
The claim will be used by the vegetable oil industry on food packaging and other platforms to communicate with Canadians. In addition, members of VOIC have developed a logo for their exclusive use to help Canadians easily identify products that meet the nutritional standards for this claim.
“We are pleased that Health Canada supports the vegetable oil industry in providing consumers with this important positive direction on what dietary fats they should be eating to reduce cholesterol levels,” said Sean McPhee, President of the Vegetable Oil Industry of Canada (VOIC).
Research submitted to Health Canada in support of the claim’s application for approval included evidence showing that, as a result of the replacement of saturated fat with unsaturated fats in individual diets, LDL-cholesterol reduction ranged from approximately 0.4% to 2.8% for every gram of fat that was replaced.
Dr David Ma, department of human health and nutritional sciences, University of Guelph and chief scientific advisor to the project, said: “This reduction is significant because the literature shows that a one per cent drop in cholesterol reduces the risk of heart disease by approximately 2%.
“Furthermore, the effects of the substitution of dietary unsaturated fatty acids for saturated fatty acids appear to be both achievable in a timely manner and sustainable. In studies reviewed, benefits to individuals appear after just two and a half weeks of dietary intervention.”
Source: Health Canada
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