Associations recommend changes to compositional standards of grain, bakery products

The Baking Association of Canada, the Canadian National Millers Association and the Canadian Pasta Manufacturers Association are asking the federal government to change compositional standards of some grain and bakery products.

This is in response to Health Canada’s consultation request about its proposal to modernize regulatory frameworks governing food additives and compositional standards, microbiological criteria and methods of analysis for food.

In their response, the associations voice support to “proposed changes that would repeal the food compositional standards from the Food and Drugs Regulations and move them into a Food Compositional Standards Document, which would be incorporated by reference into the Food and Drugs Regulations on an ambulatory basis.”

However, they urge the federal government to adopt a co-development approach for fostering a more inclusive, transparent, and effective decision-making process.

They also request the government to consider exempting naturally occurring contaminants from paragraph 4(1)(a) of the Food and Drugs Act, as “grain products naturally contain certain contaminants that are inherent to the environment.”

“Our request is grounded in the premise that these contaminants, similarly to microorganisms found in food, are inevitable and, within a tolerable limit, pose no harm to human health,” the joint submission said.

The associations recommend new compositional standards for semolina and durum flour and whole grain whole wheat flour in order to distinguish it from whole wheat flour. They also recommend removing Vitamin B White Flour (Canada Approved) from the list of compositional standards, as it has become obsolete.

To read the full submission, click here.