Canada's Skepticism Over Health Claims

Canada has been flooded with advertisements of foods and food supplements that promise good health and a better quality of life. Yet, according to the nationwide Ipsos Reid survey nearly half of Canadians don’t believe in these statements. According to the poll, 47 percent “somewhat agree” with believing the health claims on the food labels and only 5 percent “strongly believe” the statements made on the packaging.

Among the 47 per cent who stated that they don’t believe these health claims, there are more older people than young Canadian who are the least likely to be skeptical. There are regional differences too in that people in Quebec are most likely to believe in these claims while Western Canadians are the most hard to convince.

The most interesting figure is the percentage of Canadians who are willing to pay more for the food with the health claims – just 44 per cent.

With a bombarding of health messages written by experts and backed up by legal advisers, the Government is looking into ways to bring credibility thorough establishing nutritional eligibility criteria for these health claims.



Source-Medindia