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An Invitation to Participate

Labelling Inquiries - CFIA Food Labelling Information Service

Welcome to the site of the CFIA's new 2003 Guide to Food Labelling and Advertising.

The Guide to Food Labelling and Advertising (the Guide) has been extensively revised to reflect amendments to the Food and Drug Regulations (FDR) relating to:

• mandatory nutrition labelling on prepackaged foods,
• changes to criteria for nutrient content claims, and
• conditions and criteria for diet-related health claims.

The 2003 Guide

The revised Guide, called 2003 Guide to Food Labelling and Advertising (the 2003 Guide), is intended to be a reference document for the food industry, government, health professionals, and consumers that describes sometimes complex regulatory requirements, mainly falling under the Food and Drugs Act and the Food Drug Regulations and the Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act and Regulations, and policies in plain language. It is also an important inspection tool for use by CFIA staff.

What is in it now?

The 2003 Guide consists of 15 chapters plus a glossary. The first four chapters, which have undergone minor revisions, cover the legislative framework for labelling, areas of responsibilities, basic food labelling and advertising requirements, and claims relating to the composition, quality, quantity, and origin of a food. Chapters 5 to 8 deal with Canada' s new Nutrition Facts table format, nutrient content claims, diet-related health claims, and compliance tolerances. Chapters 9 to 15 include supplementary information on specific products, including alcoholic beverages, meats with added phosphates, fish and seafood regulated under the Fish Inspection Act and Regulations and some commodities regulated under the Canada Agricultural Products Act (processed fruit and vegetables, maple products and honey). The draft 2003 Guide has been updated to provide information on the recent regulatory amendments and to consolidate labelling guidelines for several CFIA food programs. Except for nutrition labelling, nutrient content claims and diet related health claims, no new policies have been introduced.

And we would like your comments

We would like comments from you, the users of the 2003 Guide. We are interested in feedback on:

• the organization of the information and how easy it was to read and understand
• could you find what you were looking for; have we missed anything?
• are there any technical problems with the web site version?
• could you read the text in the font it is provided?
• and do you have any suggestions that may improve the 2003 Guide?

How do you submit your comments?

Comments on the Guide can be submitted in the following ways:

a) online by visiting our website at: http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/tools/feedback/

b) by mail to:

Carla Barry : Feedback on - 2003 Guide to Food Labelling and Advertising
National Manager, Fair Labelling Practices Program
Bureau of Food Safety and Consumer Protection
Canadian Food Inspection Agency
159 Cleopatra Drive
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0Y9

c) by fax:

Carla Barry : Feedback on - 2003 Guide to Food Labelling and Advertising
National Manager, Fair Labelling Practices Program
Bureau of Food Safety and Consumer Protection
Canadian Food Inspection Agency
613-221-7295

The deadline....

...for comments is: December 31, 2004

What will we do with the comments?

We will collect the comments until December 31, 2004. After that date, the draft will be amended, based on the comments. The draft 2003 Guide will then be replaced with the final, 2003 Guide.

Your contribution is appreciated and will help make the production of this labelling document the best that it can be.

Sincerely,

Greg Orriss
The Bureau of Food Safety and Consumer Protection
Canadian Food Inspection Agency

Labelling Inquiries - CFIA Food Labelling Information Service