Moving the Food for Health Agenda Forward: Tackling the Barriers of Regulation and Conflict of Interest
Workshop Program
12:00 – 12:15 p.m.
Canadian Nutrition Society – Welcome
Light lunch served
Dr. Leah Gramlich, CNS Past President, Director Nutrition Support, Department of Medicine, University of Alberta
click here to see presentation (PDF)
Dr. Gramlich will speak about the power of stakeholder collaboration across the food – health continuum to remove barriers to the successful use of food to maintain the health of Canadians and as a preventive strategy to mitigate the incidence and severity of chronic disease.
She will report on progress to address barriers identified by stakeholders in the dialogue session at the 2011 Guelph Food for Health Workshop to innovation -- health claim regulatory reform, conflict of interest, policy leadership on a national food for health strategy, health provider engagement and education on nutrition and diet, and perceived bias of industry-funded research partnerships.
12:15 – 12:55 p.m.
Federal Perspectives in Food and Health
Panel: Updates from Health Canada on the Regulatory Health Claim Process and Post Market Promotion Strategies
click here to see presentation (PDF)
Learn about the latest initiatives of the federal government on food for health. How is the federal government showing leadership on the health claim regulatory process? Is it being streamlined? Post market awareness and education. What private sector innovators need to know.
12:15-12:30 p.m.
Dr. William Yan, Director, Bureau of Nutritional Sciences, Food Directorate, Health Canada
Dr. Yan will provide an update on efforts to modernize the health claim regulatory process and the role of partnerships as a means to modernize regulatory opportunities and challenges
12:30-12:45 p.m.
Dr. Hasan Hutchinson, Director General, Office of Nutrition Policy and Promotion, Health Canada
click here to see presentation (PDF)
Dr. Hutchinson will speak about awareness and education, post market considerations to promote a food – health strategy.
12:45 – 12:55 p.m.
Questions: Dr. Yan and Dr. Hutchinson will take questions from attendees.
12:55- 1:40 p.m.
Panel on Conflict-of-Interest: This panel will examine conflict of interest and perceived bias related to industry-funded food for health research.
Leaving bias about bias at the door, this panel will guide us through thought provoking discussion about how we perceive bias, causes and potential solutions to address the increasingly intertwined relationships between industry, government and academia.
Dr. Paul Hébert, Intensivist, Department of Critical Care, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, former Editor-in-Chief Canadian Medical Association Journal.
Dr. Hébert will present his perspectives of the conflict of interest debate based on his years as Editor-in-Chief of the Canadian Medical Association Journal. He will provide his perspective on how an organization can develop best practices, define its values and engagement practices to mitigate the perception of bias.
Dr. Claude Roy, Department of Paediatrics, Nutrition and Pharmacology, University of Montreal
Dr. Roy will provide a different perspective on conflict of interest that warns against the chilling effect that it has had on research and development in Canada and, ultimately, progress in the area of food and health.
Questions: Drs. Hébert and Roy will take questions.
1:40 – 2:25 p.m.
Case Studies in Food-Health
1:40 - 1: 55 p.m.
Case Study on Lessons learned in the newly approved health claim for unsaturated fats
Dr. David Ma, Associate Professor, Dept. of Human Health and Nutritional Sciences, College of Biological Sciences, University of Guelph.
click here to see presentation (PDF)
Dr. Ma will share his experiences and perspectives on how government, industry and academia can work successfully in collaboration towards the development of a health claim in Canada.
1:55 - 2:10 p.m.
Case Study on the Development of a Dietary Intervention for Metabolic Syndrome – The C.H.A.N.G.E. Project
Dr. Khush Jeejeebhoy, Director of Nutrition Support, St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, Emeritus Professor of Medicine for the Department of Nutritional Sciences at the University of Toronto.
Dr. Jeejeebhoy will discuss specific strategies being targeted to use food and diet as a viable approach to impacting chronic diseases encompassed by the metabolic syndrome.
2:10 – 2:25 p.m.
Case Study on the Development of a Nutrition Educational Curriculum for Healthcare Professionals - Wellness Rx
Dr. Leah Gramlich, CNS Past President, Director Nutrition Support, Department of Medicine, University of Alberta
click here to see presentation (PDF)
Dr. Gramlich will discuss the development of an undergraduate nutrition curriculum as an education tool for all health professionals. Its goal is to retool the patient-food interface by building health professional knowledge and skills related to food, diet, and nutrition using a new education program. The curriculum is intended as a role model for other provinces.
2:25 – 2:35 p.m.
Bio Break
2:35 – 3:00 p.m.
Panel: British Columbia Perspectives on Food and Health
2:35 - 2:50 p.m.
Daphne Sidaway-Wolf M.Sc., P.Eng., Agrifoods Policy and Legislation Branch, British Columbia Ministry of Agriculture
click here to see presentation (PDF)
Ms. Sidaway-Wolf will bring perspectives from BC agriculture. Vision: An innovative, adaptive and globally competitive Agrifood sector valued by all British Columbians.
Mission: Cultivate a competitive and socially responsible Agrifood sector.
2:50 – 3:00 p.m.
Lee Johnston (MA, MPH), Chronic Disease Systems Modelling Laboratory, Simon Fraser University
click here to see presentation (PDF)
Ms. Johnston will present on Lessons Learned from Building Trust, a series of workshops convened by Dr. Diane Finegood to consider the role of partnerships in addressing obesity and chronic disease.
3:00 - 4:00 p.m
Breakout Session
Workshop participants will break into round tables and be asked to respond to a series questions helping to create a play book on conflict-of-interest in Canada for food and health.
“Is it possible to leave bias about bias at the door in the debate about industry-funding of food for health research?”