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Yoni Freedhoff M.D.

Medical Director, Bariatric Medical Institute

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Health Canada's Cadmium-Coated Hypocrisy

Posted: 07/26/11 11:54 AM ET
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Yesterday Health Canada proposed a guideline to limit cadmium in children's jewelry.

Why?

Because if kids accidentally ingest it, cadmium carries with it a number of medical risks.

In my opinion, it should be banned; after all that's what governments are supposed to do with toxins. Here's our Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq's take on a government's role:

"Consumer products that pose a danger to human health or safety may not be manufactured, distributed, imported or sold in Canada. This proposed guideline makes our expectations of industry clear."

So why then are trans fats not banned?

According to Sally Brown, chair of Health Canada's Trans Fat Task Force, trans fats are a "toxic" killer that should be removed from the food chain as soon as possible, and "the longer we wait, the more illness and in fact death will happen, so we know we have to get it out of our food supply."

"There is no safe amount of trans consumption," she added.

Tony Clement, the then Minister of Health said in June 2007 (in a speech that I can no longer find on Health Canada's websites) that if in two years a voluntary approach didn't remove the substance from our food supply, regulations would be put in place.

And here we are, over two years past that overly generous deadline, and Health Canada's guideline to limit cadmium, this despite the fact that I've found that the harmful substance Canadian children are most likely to ingest is trans fat (adults too).

In my opinion, if Health Canada actually cared about our health, trans fats would have been gone back in 2007, no voluntary free pass, and no lip service about potential regulations.

I believe that the only reason trans fat isn't gone is because politically, it's more challenging to do, and I think that at the end of the day it would seem as if Health Canada cares more about politics, than it does about the health of Canadian children.

Thank goodness there's no powerful pro-cadmium jewelry lobby here, because if there were, it would likely still be hanging around too.

 

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pinkibus
1812 Fans
09:17 AM on 07/27/2011
Well there are a lot of things that should be banned. Tobacco and alcohol shuld be banned. Air and water pollution should be banned. Carbon emissions should be banned. But you can bet your bottom dollar they won't be while Pinnochio is prime minister. In fct, our prime minister doesn't mind those things - especially air,and water pollution. Tobacco and alsohol bring in a lot of revenue for the government and banning them would create a black market which didn't benefit anyone. A carbon tax or trading carbon emissions would hurt core supporters of Harper. That they would be profitable in the end run means nothing to Harper or companies since companies look at short term profit. This government supports higher military and prison costs, less money for education and health care (short term gain but long term pain). Harper is longing to be another Dubya.
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northstar11
mt
603 Fans
09:21 PM on 07/26/2011
so it will be interesting to see if the pedlars of trans fats also top up the coffers of the harper party
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