Resources

Information on the regulation of vitamins and minerals
The Natural Health Products Directorate (NHPD) of Health Canada has developed regulations to ensure that Canadians have access to natural health products that are safe, effective and of high quality. The NHP Regulations require that NHP health claims be supported by specific standards, and that products are made according to good manufacturing practices in licensed facilities.

See the Food and Drug Act's Natural Health Products Regulations, in effect since January 2004, which control the preparation, packaging and distribution of vitamins and supplements as well as other natural health products.
http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/F-27/SOR-2003-196/index.html

You can subscribe to the Natural Health Products Directorate Electronic Bulletin to receive notices and updates on activities and documents at the Directorate.

Quality patient information about vitamins and minerals
The natural health products section of the Health Canada website has very clear answers to frequently asked questions from consumers about the safety, labelling and regulation of vitamins and minerals.
http://hc-sc.gc.ca/dhp-mps/prodnatur/faq/question_consum-consom_e.html

The National Centre for Complimentary and Alternative Medicine has information about clinical trials in dietary supplements as well as patient information sheets
http://nccam.nih.gov/health/supplements.htm

Eat Right Ontario has a patient-friendly information sheet on vitamins and minerals.
http://www.eatrightontario.ca/en/ViewDocument.aspx?id=43

For high quality French-language patient information on nutrition and supplements, direct your patients to:
http://www.extenso.org/

The dieticians of Canada website has an assessment tool that can help people improve their diets to ensure they're receiving all the nutrients they need.
http://eatracker.ca