Heart health claim a boon for canola growers

Source: Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food

The Saskatchewan Canola Growers Association (SCGA) is welcoming news of a powerful new tool to sell canola oil in one of the largest markets in the world.

The United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) recently announced that canola oil can now bear a qualified health claim on its labelling.

Manufacturers can now use the following claim on their products:

Limited and not conclusive scientific evidence suggests that eating about 1.5 tablespoons of canola oil daily may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease due to the unsaturated fat content in canola oil. To achieve this possible benefit, canola oil is to replace a similar amount of saturated fat and not increase the total number of calories you eat in a day.

While the claim may be “qualified,” SCGA Executive Director Judie Dyck doesn't think the impact will be.

“It is very exciting, because the U.S. is a big market for canola. We are going to have two more crushing plants in Yorkton, and we will want to be moving more canola oil south. Most of our oil that we crush here now is going into the U.S. marketplace. So when you are going into the market to promote canola oil, you can now include the qualified health claim,” explains Dyck.

As the largest generation in the history of the human race ages, the importance of a heart-healthy diet is becoming an evermore prominent consumer demand to which manufacturers are responding.

“Just look at some of the labelling that has occurred in the past few years,” says Dyck. “Cholesterol-free, trans fat-free – consumers are becoming more educated, and more people are reading the packaging and the labelling. As consumers become more aware, they will start recognizing that they have to eat healthily, and canola is the healthiest oil.”

At seven per cent, canola oil is lowest in saturated fats, and the health benefits of canola have been front and centre in past marketing efforts. However, the USFDA ruling lends credibility to the message.

“You now have an independent third party that is ratifying what [the canola industry] has been saying for years,” says Dyck.

The SCGA is hoping all of this will benefit the bottom line of producers.

“There are a lot of factors happening in canola, including the impact of biodiesel. A million metric tonnes of last year’s seed went to Europe for biodiesel. We want to make sure that both the food and fuel markets can be expanded, and we are starting to see the price improve for canola,” says Dyck.

Canola Council of Canada president Barb Isman likewise welcomes the USFDA’s stamp of approval.

“Canola oil is a good fat. We’ve said it all along, and now the USFDA agrees. Canola oil provides a simple and affordable way to improve heart health, and that’s great news. We’re hoping, as an industry, that the claim will encourage more food product designers and manufacturers to use canola oil rather than less healthy choices,” says Isman.

Health Canada does not have a similar health claim system, so the U.S. designation will hold no legal weight in this country. However, the USFDA qualified claim will still influence Canadian consumers, since it will likely appear in U.S. advertising or on products that are imported from the States.

Health Canada does approve the following statement regarding canola:

A healthy diet low in saturated and trans fats may reduce the risk of heart disease. Canola oil is low in saturated and trans fats.

For more information, contact:

Judie Dyck, Executive Director
Saskatchewan Canola Growers Association
Phone: (306) 668-2380