The renewal of Quebec’s two main food policies presents a great opportunity to improve the range of foods available in grocery stores. In an article published in Options politiques, members of the Food Quality Observatory team discussed the central role of the food supply in Quebec.

The food supply is the cornerstone of our food environment. It plays a central role in how people access to a healthy and varied diet. In the last few years, packaged foods have come to account for the largest share of Canadians’ diets. Improving the nutritional value of foods available in Quebec and across the rest of the country is therefore a key step in helping Canadians adopt healthier eating habits and reduce the risk of diseases such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes, obesity, and even certain types of cancer.

Many foods commonly found in our grocery carts are high in saturated fat, sugar, or sodium, and could be more nutritious. For example, ready-to-serve soups and pizzas are the categories with the highest proportion of products that are high in sodium, while cookies and granola bars are on top of the list for sugar content.

The Observatory’s study also highlighted the wide variability in saturated fat, sugar, and sodium content within a single food group. For example, the sodium content of a soup can range from 45 to 1,940 mg—forty times as much!—per cup, while the sugar content of cookies can range from 2 to 27 g per 30-g serving. This shows that food manufacturers have the capacity to improve the nutritional quality of many products.

To learn more, read the full article here : https://policyoptions.irpp.org/2025/01/food-policy-quebec/