The Canadian government has launched a broad-ranging consultation process to assess ways to improve nutrition information on food product labels. The consultation will focus on parents and consumers and will include roundtable discussions in several Canadian cities as well as an opportunity to participate on-line. Since 12 December 2007 pre-packaged foods sold in Canada have been fully required to include nutritional information on labels, including a nutrition facts table, a list of ingredients, and any health and nutrition claims. While this system has seemingly worked well, Health Canada is now seeking to consult with stakeholders in Canada on ways to improve the way information is presented on food labels. This process could eventually lead to the issuance of a formal proposal together with a request for comments from interested parties.

Separately, Health Canada announced 31 January the launch of the Common Electronic Submissions Gateway, which will allow companies to begin sending drug authorisation data to the agency on-line using a special dedicated channel of the FDA's existing system. Previously, companies were required to send drug authorisation packages to Health Canada via courier, either in hard copy format or on CD/DVD storage devices. A Health Canada press release indicates that this system will make it faster and easier for companies to submit their information securely to each of the regulators for independent review, reducing the administrative burden on industry and supporting prompt access to safe and effective medications for Canadians. Health Canada notes that it was able to leverage existing technology developed by the FDA to create a shared mechanism through the Canada-U.S. Regulatory Cooperation Council.