Canadian dairy consumers want better dairy labeling

Food & Drink Weekly, August 8, 2005

Canadian consumers say that nutritional value is a principal reason to buy cheese and that they expect cheese to be made from milk and labeling to convey clear information about the product, according to a report prepared from focus groups organized across Canada by the Consumer Interest Alliance. "Consumers want better labeling to be able to make informed choices about the cheeses they choose," said Jacques Laforge, president of Dairy Farmers of Canada (DFC), the lobby group that commissioned the report. "They say they love cheese that is made from milk in the traditional manner. However, they have noticed changes in some of their favorite cheese products. They would like to know more readily when the composition of these products is changed and if these changes impact their functional characteristics or nutritive value."

DFC proposed "precise compositional standards for traditional Canadian cheeses" in order to ensure that consumers "can easily choose high quality Canadian cheese, made with high quality milk." Over the last decade or so, ingredients used to make some products have changed, Laforge said, altering the taste or nutritional value of certain cheese products.

Two slices of processed cheese used to contain the same amount of calcium as a glass of milk but now some contain less calcium and other nutrients than those made from milk, and they are not necessarily cheaper, said Mary Alton-Mackey, nutrition expert with the consumer alliance and co-author of the report. "The Agricultural Policy Framework incorporated food quality as a major component in 'branding Canada' by stressing that Canadian food is top of the line," said Laforge. "We certainly want to ensure Canadian dairy products are, and remain, among the best in the world. This is why milk producers support consumer efforts to clarify and enforce regulations to preserve the good name of dairy products that meet the existing standards."