Canada - Please restore our food safety regulations!

As part of Canada's Budget 2012, regulations for food safety, including those for sodium and cholesterol levels were severely weakened. Also, over 100 food safety inspectors were released as part of budget cuts - this is particularly disturbing given past occurrences of Listeria in various foods. It has been documented that sodium levels in Canadian fast food restaurants are much higher than those in other countries, including the United States.

Studies have proven that excessively high sodium and cholesterol levels can lead to several ailments, including high blood pressure, heart disease and even cancer.

Recently, revelations about potentially toxic levels of arsenic in rice and cases of Ecoli in ground beef from an Alberta processing plant, have brought more attention to the need for improved regulation of food safety.

Canadians coast to coast call on the Conservative government to please reconsider these unwise and unsafe cuts and restore Canada's food safety regulations to their previous level. It is hoped that the government would build on those previous levels of regulation (including labelling of genetically modified ingredients), in order to help safeguard the health of Canadians.

It's time for Canada's government to take a step back and re-evaluate its priorities and ensure that they are truly in the best interest of the health of Canadians!