The real threat to cow-based products might be an appetite for choice in a highly regulated market
With the explosion of plant-based milk alternatives flooding the market, can cow milk co-exist? Canada’s dairy industry will struggle to survive the competition unless it reconnects with its consumers. Until now, milk wars have been international. Canada’s dairy market is highly regulated through its contentious supply management system. Quotas and high tariffs are used to…
If Newfoundland and Labrador pursues a sugar tax, it’s certainly not to get its people to lead healthier lives. It’s about paying bills
In its recent budget, the Newfoundland and Labrador government announced it will introduce a tax of 20 cents per litre on sugary drinks, starting on April 1, 2022. This a first in Canada. So far we know very little about how the tax would work, which products would be affected and how revenues from the…
Diet has the largest impact on chronic disease, including cancers
Recent research led by Katerina Maximova, an adjunct professor in the University of Alberta’s School of Public Health and member of the Cancer Research Institute of Northern Alberta, shows that low consumption of fruits and vegetables combined with a higher intake of processed meats is associated with greater incidence of cancer for Albertans. “It is generally accepted that…
The continued popularity of meat-fee diets may point to the damaging legacy of COVID-19 for some sectors
Before COVID-19, the craze for vegetable proteins was palpable. All we heard about were sustainability, animal welfare and Beyond Meat. The health of the planet and well-being of animals became increasingly important factors to a growing number of Canadians, and it showed in the numbers. A few months after the great confinement started, some new…
Pseudoscience and quackery love the food-is-medicine philosophy because it helps them sell their nutritional supplements, diet books and therapy sessions
Hippocrates supposedly said, “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” I disagree. Food is not medicine. I can hear people saying, “But Dylan, you have type 1 diabetes and a PhD in human nutritional sciences. Surely you of all people know that food has a powerful impact on health?” I do. But…
Skip the cleanses, alkaline diets and IV vitamin therapy; there's no evidence they work and plenty of evidence they can be harmful
If you follow health tips in some media, you’d think the nutritional sciences are a mess: Is butter good for you or bad? Should I eat breakfast or skip it? Should I eat like a caveman? Or should I eat more like a bird? Alternative facts are not a new concept in the field of nutritional…
They remind us of how critical food diversity is to all of us. And they may be pointing the way to the future on our dinner tables
Veganism attracts plenty of criticism and some people even claim to hate vegans. But vegans’ contribution to public discourse on our relationship with proteins shouldn't be taken lightly. Nov. 1 is World Vegan Day and Canada is home to about 470,000 vegans, according to a recent Dalhousie University survey. (Even though some believe that number…
The protein war isn’t about the amount of meat we should eat, but rather about how studies on nutrition should be interpreted. It's messy
For a few years, we’ve been force-fed the notion that red meat and processed meat products threaten our health. But the protein war between the livestock industry and plant-based supporters has taken an interesting twist. In 2015, the World Health Organization went as far as to say that processed meats were carcinogenic, adding them to…
If A&W is seen as a disrupter in food service, McDonald’s could become the exclamation mark in an era of protein plurality
When McDonald’s makes a move, everyone pays attention. That’s just the way things are in the food service industry. For months, rumours swirled around when McDonald’s would launch a plant-based product. We now know McDonald’s will enter the plant-based game by running a 12-week pilot in Ontario. This is a global first for McDonald’s. That’s…
Kosher certification goes beyond just food safety or dietary regimes. Its symbolic and religious virtues are critical to the currency of this category
Canada’s largest kosher meat packer has had its licences suspended, according to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). This could spell trouble for consumers of kosher meat products and particularly the Jewish community. Ryding-Regency Meat Packers, a Toronto-based company, has been in operation since 1983. The company, which also operates under other names, had its…
With the explosion of plant-based milk alternatives flooding the market, can cow milk co-exist? Canada’s dairy industry will struggle to survive the competition unless it reconnects with its consumers. Until now, milk wars have been international. Canada’s dairy market is highly regulated through its contentious supply management system. Quotas and high tariffs are used to…
