Article content continued

Producers hope the claim will have an outsized effect on a slow-growth industry that remains relatively paltry despite Canada’s large population of immigrants from places where tofu has been consumed for centuries, such as China, Korea and Japan.

Fuelling their optimism is that the U.S. soy foods industry experienced “dramatic” growth when that country approved a similar claim in 1999, according to industry statistics that claim sales ballooned to $4.5 billion in 2013 from about $1 billion, with soy milk enjoying the biggest spike from health-conscious consumers.

By comparison, the entire Canadian soy market — which includes tofu, soy meat alternatives and soy cheese — is still only worth almost $100 million annually, according to Nielsen market research data.

“The good news is because of what’s happened in the U.S., we think the impact in Canada is going to be very positive,” Jang said. “We expect growth.”

But food economists and marketers are skeptical that Canada will get the same boost in a world inundated with health labels and conflicting nutrition information. The label may have provided novel information in 1999, but the ease of accessing health information online means the claim is likely old news for people seeking cholesterol-lowering foods via Google searches.

Historically, food fortification claims (such as vitamin D in milk and the mandatory ionization of salt) were used as public health interventions, said Charlene Elliott, Canada Research Chair of food marketing at the University of Calgary.