There is a general acceptance in Canadian society that government has a role to play in ensuring that food products provided to consumers are safe. Despite this general attitude, it is unlikely that most members of the public have any idea of the vast number of complex regulations that govern all aspects of the food industry in Canada. It is trite, but nonetheless accurate, to suggest that virtually every aspect of life in our society is subject to regulation directly or indirectly from before birth to after death. They regulate many aspects of our life, from beginning to end. Hospital and medical boards regulate the methods and practice of the doctors that bring us into this world.
Boards regulate the licensing and operation of morticians who are concerned with our mortal remains.
In Canada, boards are a way of life. Boards and the functions they fulfill are legion. Telephone v. Nfld. If this comment can be applied to society in general, it has particular relevance to the regulation of the production, marketing, processing, and consumption of food. The food industry is among the most highly regulated of all consumer product industries, yet the majority of these regulations are seldom discussed and rarely reviewed by the general public.