At an Ottawa grocery store, Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq made the announcement on Feb. 14, a Valentine’s gift to all those in the food allergy and celiac communities who have lobbied tirelessly for the regulations, which now become part of the Food and Drugs Act.

While the food regulations will be an enormous improvement for those looking for allergy-safe and gluten-free foods, there was one major disappointment for the communities and the groups that represent them.

At the last minute, beer has been exempted from the regulations. While new negotiations for beer ingredient listings will be held, a Health Canada official would only say that the timeline on starting discussions is “soon”.

“Our Government is committed to protecting children and families from dangerous products, and this is clear from the measures we have taken in our new Consumer Product Safety Act,” Aglukkaq said at the media conference.

“All parents want to have confidence in the food they are serving their families, and these changes to food labels will make it easier for parents of children with food allergies to identify potentially harmful, if not fatal, ingredients in foods.”

When asked about the government’s exemption for brewers, Aglukkaq focused on the children at risk of anaphylaxis. “I think if your child is drinking beer, you’ve got other issues to worry about,” she said making light of the point. Then she added: “This is about children; this is about food allergies.”

Anaphylaxis Canada said in a statement that it was both pleased to see the food regulations finally pass and “very disappointed” by the last-minute exemption for the beer companies. It encouraged Canadians to learn more about the ingredients of different beers at the website What’s in Your Beer.

Janet Dalziel, the president of the Canadian Celiac Association told CTV’s Power Play program that because of the beer exemption, her organization was “celebrating today with modified rapture, but we are celebrating.”

Food and beverage makers will have until Aug. 4, 2012 to change packaging so that product labels comply with the new regulations on ingredient listing. The top 11 allergens that must now be apparently shown on labels are: peanuts, tree nuts, milk/dairy, egg, shellfish, fish, wheat, soy, sesame, mustard and sulphites.

In past, food labels could show scientific terms (albumin for egg; caseinate for milk) or vague terms such as “natural flavours” for soy or “spices” for sesame or mustard. For those with celiac disease, gluten must now be listed, and the regulations require lesser known gluten-containing grains like spelt and kamut to be followed by the word “wheat” in brackets to avoid consumer confusion.

Other links:

* News articles and views on the Forum.
* Health Canada on the new regulations, with links - here.
* Gwen Smith blog post “No Regs for the Weary“.

Like the guest who finally turns up for dinner just as you’re clearing the dessert plates, Canada’s breweries last month showed up to bellyache about the proposed gluten and allergen labeling regulations.

What’s amazing is that Health Canada and the Prime Minister’s Office didn’t just send this nervy latecomer home with a foil swan.

In Canada, we’ve been pioneers in “considering” label rules that would clearly identify food allergen and gluten in sources on packaged foods. Consultations on the issue began in earnest in 1996, the same year that Atlanta hosted the Olympic Summer Games; the year a young Alanis Morissette swept the Grammys.

In the 15 intervening years, all the consulting, revising, reviewing and re-revising by the food and beverage industry, distillers, bureaucrats, allergy groups, doctors and celiac associations was supposed to have finished.

In July 2008, Tony Clement, then our Health Minister, promised the regulations to millions of Canadians who live with food allergies and celiac disease. The label regulations were finally accepted by all stakeholders in February 2010; they were good to go. And they did complete one stage of the process.

There was just a second stage left to pass. But then the regulations sat, stalled at Treasury Board. The allergy and celiac communities began lobbying again in December with an open letter to the Prime Minister and an online write-in campaign.

Just as the current Health Minister, Leona Aglukkaq wrote back promising the regulations would pass in “early 2011,” the brewers came to Ottawa, guns blazing.

“It was very disheartening to receive a letter from the Health Minister reaffirming her commitment to this issue only to learn a few days later from the Prime Minister’s Office that an exemption was being considered for the beer industry,” said Laurie Harada, Anaphylaxis Canada’s executive director.

No kidding. We have the cooperation and sign-off of all the foodmakers, liquor makers, cake bakers, you name it – and now the brewers want another delay? The regulations were considered close to expiration date from neglect last winter. What will further delay do? If a spring election does occur, it will be back to the drawing board.

How do we lose this guest? Where is the foil? This party was meant to be a wrap.

In this community, we depend on clear labels for the basics of eating and drinking. We grow weary of being patient. We tire of avoiding food upon food in the grocery store because of mystery ingredients like “natural flavours,” “spices” or “hydrolyzed protein” (Is HP soy? wheat? corn? milk? Answer: any of the above). We just want to know what’s in our food and drink. And you know what? Even non-allergic Canadians are beginning to demand the same.

Our community remains resolved to seeing these regulations through despite the protracted battle to get the job done. What the beer companies and the prime ministerial advisers don’t seem to get is this simple fact: we need those labels; they are not optional.

Next Steps:

Let’s keep the pressure on the government to pass these regulations. We can win this yet. But we need to stay vocal now.

1. If you haven’t sent your letter via the write-in campaign, please do so now – here. We’ve gathered over 8,700 letters in total from Round 1 and 2 of this campaign. And the tally is growing.

If you have sent a letter, thanks for the support! Can you think of anyone else who would take part? (It’s not just for those living with allergies or celiac, any supporter can send a letter.)

2. The groups in the campaign have now written a letter to all Members of Parliament, asking them to press the Prime Minister to pass the regulations. See it here and send it to your MP, too.

3. Call the Prime Minister’s Office, and let them know how much you and your family need these regulations: 613-992-4211.

4. Anaphylaxis Canada has started an intriguing quiz “What’s in Your Beer”. You may be surprised to learn of some potential ingredients. Again, show your friends, take the quiz, spread the word.