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Chapter 6 - The Elements Within the Nutrition Facts Table

Chapter 6: Sections 6.1-6.4 | Sections 6.5-6.11

6.1  Presentation of Information within the Table [B.01.401, B.01.402, B.01.450(1)]

In the Food and Drug Regulations, the tables to B.01.401 and B.01.402 specify the required nomenclature for the information listed in the Nutrition Facts table plus the units of measurement and rounding rules.

B.01.450(1), in conjunction with Schedule L, prescribes the order in which the listings must appear, as well as dimensions, spacing and the use of upper and lowercase letters and bold type (see Chapter 5 of this Guide).

Table 6-1 and Table 6-2, as set out in this section of the 2003 Guide, are not exact replicas of the two tables in the Food and Drug Regulations [B.01.401,  B.01.402]. Table 6-1 refers to the core nutrition information which is mandatory for all Nutrition Facts tables and Table 6-2 refers to all additional information that may voluntarily be included, or which must be included in the Nutrition Facts table when triggered by a nutrient content claim. In these tables:

• Column 1 sets out the information in the correct order and also prescribes which terms to use for describing this information. It is a combination of both columns 1 and 2 from the tables set out in the Food and Drug Regulations.
• Column 2 sets out the units of measurement required for expressing the information.
• Column 3 sets out the rounding rules for these values/amounts.

This chapter also defines and/or discusses several terms and concepts, including:

• Reference Amounts (Schedule M) 6.2.1
• Serving of Stated Size 6.2.2
• Reasonable Daily Intake (Schedule K) 6.3.1
• Recommended Daily Intake 6.3.2
• Weighted Recommended Nutrient Intake 6.3.3
• Reference Standard 6.3.4
• Daily Value and % Daily Value 6.3.5

Core Nutrition Information
Table 6-1
(Excerpted from table to B.01.401)

Additional Nutrition Information
Table 6-2
(Excerpted from table to B.01.402)

6.2 Reference Amounts and Serving Size

6.2.1 Reference Amounts

A reference amount is a specific regulated quantity of a type of food usually eaten by an individual at one sitting. Reference amounts, as established by Health Canada, are set out in Schedule M of the Food and Drug Regulations [B.01.001] and are provided in Table 6-3 in this chapter. With the exception of prepackaged meals, reference amounts serve as the basis of compositional criteria for nutrient content claims and health claims (discussed in Chapters 7 and 8) [B.01.001, B.01.002A, item 1 to table to B.01.401, and Schedule M]. They are also used for determining what is a single serving container.

Unless otherwise noted, the reference amounts are for the ready-to-serve or almost ready-to-serve form of the food and are based on the main intended use of a food (e.g., milk as a beverage and not as an ingredient in recipes or when added to cereal). Where a product requires further preparation (such as the addition of water or other ingredients) and a reference amount has not been established for the unprepared form, the reference amount will be the quantity of the product required to prepare the reference amount of finished product.

Reference amounts refer only to the edible portion of the food and exclude any liquid in which the solid food may be packed or canned, unless the liquid is customarily consumed with the solid food. For example, the reference amounts for olives and feta cheese do not include the brine, only the olives and the cheese, whereas canned fruit packed in fruit juice includes the fruit juice. Pork ribs would not include the bones, only the meat.

6.2.2 Serving of Stated Size

The nutrient information presented in a Nutrition Facts table is based on a specific amount of food (edible portion). The amount is indicated under the Nutrition Facts heading using the phrase "Serving (naming the serving size)", "Serving Size (naming the serving size)" or "Per (naming the serving size)".

Serving sizes set out in Table 6-3 of this Guide are usually presented as a range. This allows manufacturers some flexibility when determining serving sizes for products of varying density and size, such as cookies or slices of bread. In order not to mislead consumers, the same serving size should be used whenever a serving size is mentioned on the label, e.g., in the Nutrition Facts table, the directions for use, etc. For example, if a box of pudding mix says that it makes 6 servings, the Nutrition Facts table should be based on one-sixth of the box and the directions for use should indicate how to make 6 servings. Common sense should also prevail when determining a serving size, when foods are pre-portioned into units commonly consumed by a person, the serving size should be the unit in question. For instance, 1 burger, 1 steak, 1 cabbage roll, 1 granola bar, etc.

A serving size is based on the food as sold [B.01.002A, D.01.001(2)]. For foods requiring preparation and foods commonly mixed with other ingredients or another food before being eaten (such as pudding mix, soups or breakfast cereal with milk), the serving size in the Nutrition Facts table must be set out for the food as sold and may optionally be set out for the food as prepared. (See 5.7 of this Guide for the required format.)

The serving size can be expressed in several ways [table to B.01.401].

• The serving size may be expressed as a fraction of the entire food (for foods usually divided into pieces before consumption, such as 1/8 cake or 1/4 pizza);

• It may be expressed as a single serving, if it meets the criteria described in 6.2.3 below [B.01.002A(2)]; or

• In all other cases, the serving size is expressed in the commonly used unit such as millilitres, cups, tablespoons, pieces, units (e.g., muffin, burger), count (e.g., number of cookies) or other common household measure.

For non-metric declarations, the metric serving size must follow the declaration, in brackets, e.g., "per stick (2.7 g)".

The units for the metric serving size must be consistent with the units used to declare the net quantity of the food on the label (unless otherwise noted). This means that a serving must be expressed:

• in grams if the net quantity of the food is declared on the label by weight or by count, and
• in millilitres if the net quantity is declared by volume [B.01.002A, D.01.001(2)].

There are three exceptions to this rule. Although the net quantity of olives, pickles and fruit used for garnish or flavour, such as maraschino cherries, is declared by volume, a serving must be expressed in grams [items 78, 149, and 150 in Schedule M].

Usually the units used for the serving size are the same as the units used for the reference amount (see Schedule M).

Metric values are rounded to the nearest 0.1 for quantities of less than 10 and to the nearest whole number for quantities of 10 or more. These rounding rules are found in the table to B.01.401 and summarized in Table 6-1 in 6.1 of this Guide.

6.2.3 Single Serving Containers

The entire net quantity in the package is considered to be the serving size in the following cases:

6.2.4 Foods for Use in the Manufacture of Other Foods

Note: The information in this subsection does not pertain to foods sold at retail, such as large quantities of various ingredients used by consumers for home-baking (e.g., 10 kg bags of flour and sugar). Such products require a Nutrition Facts table based on the appropriate serving size.

Some prepackaged products which are intended solely for use as an ingredient (not sold at retail) do not have to provide the information on the basis of a serving size.

These include:

• foods used in the manufacture of other prepackaged foods that will eventually be sold to a consumer at the retail level, and
• foods used in the preparation of food by a commercial or industrial enterprise or an institution.

In these cases, written nutrition information must accompany these ingredients and set out the energy value and amounts of other nutrients (expressed in the applicable units) per 100 grams, per 100 millilitres, per gram or per millilitre of the food [B.01.404]. The Nutrition Facts table format is not required. For more information regarding foods intended for further manufacturing, see 5.15 of this Guide, Foods for Use in Manufacturing Other Foods.

Reference Amounts [Schedule M] and Serving Sizes
Table 6-3
(Essential to making a nutrient content claim and preparing a Nutrition Facts table)

1. Unless otherwise noted, the reference amounts are for the ready-to-serve or almost ready-to-serve form of the food. If not listed separately, the reference amount for the unprepared form, such as dry mixes, concentrates, dough, batter and fresh or frozen pasta, is the amount required to make one reference amount of the prepared form.

2. Unless otherwise noted in the Serving Size column, the serving size is for the food-as-sold.

3. Excludes any liquid in which the solid food may be packed or canned, unless the liquid is customarily consumed with the solid food.

4. Meat and poultry substitutes include extended and simulated meat and poultry products.

6.3 Daily Intake

6.3.1 Reasonable Daily Intake for Various Foods (Schedule K)

Note: "Reasonable Daily Intake" (or Schedule K) should not be confused with "Recommended Daily Intake" (see 6.3.2 of this Guide).

The Reasonable Daily Intake was used to evaluate, for regulatory purposes, the nutritional contribution of specific foods to the diet. Reasonable Daily Intakes were used as the basis for determining the amounts of vitamin and mineral nutrients that may be present in the food when they are added. A food's protein rating is determined from the quality of the protein (i.e., the protein efficiency ratio) and the quantity of protein provided by a Reasonable Daily Intake.

The Reasonable Daily Intake for most foods was considered to be one average serving of the food. However, in the case of foods such as milk, bread or butter, where several servings may be consumed daily, a reasonable intake has been estimated considering the food habits of Canadians.

A "Reasonable Daily Intake" of a food named in column I of Schedule K, is the amount of that food set out in column II.

Reasonable Daily Intake for Various Foods (Schedule K)
Table 6-4

6.3.2 Recommended Daily Intake (RDI)

Note: Recommended Daily Intake should not be confused with Reasonable Daily Intake (Schedule K) (see 6.3.1 of this Guide).

Recommended Daily Intake (RDI) pertains to vitamins and mineral nutrients. It means the amount of a vitamin or mineral nutrient set out in Table I of Divisions 1 and 2 of Part D of the Food and Drug Regulations [D.01.001].

In the Nutrition Facts table, the term "Daily Value" is synonymous with "Recommended Daily Intake" for vitamins and mineral nutrients [B.01.001].

The RDI is one of the two reference points upon which the % Daily Value is based. (The other reference point is the "Reference Standard" which pertains to specific nutrients other than vitamins and mineral nutrients. See 6.3.4 in this Guide.)

The RDI's are also used to set compositional criteria for the nutrient content claims for vitamins and mineral nutrients (see 7.25 of this Guide).

Table 6-5 which follows presents the established Recommended Daily Intakes for vitamins and mineral nutrients. Recommended Daily Intakes are given for two different age groups: children less than two years of age and persons two years of age or older. When using the table, be sure to use the appropriate column.

Recommended Daily Intake for Vitamins and Mineral Nutrients
Table 6-5

6.3.3 Weighted Recommended Nutrient Intake

Weighted Recommended Nutrient Intakes (WRNI) became part of the Food and Drug Regulations in 1996. They are considered to represent the nutritional needs of the total population because they are weighted according to the age and sex distribution of the Canadian population

The Weighted Recommended Nutrient intake is used to determine whether a food provides a sufficient amount of a nutrient to qualify for a health claim pertaining to:

• sodium, potassium and hypertension [item 1 (b) in column 2 of the table following B.01.603], and
• saturated fat, trans fat, and heart disease [item 3 (b) in column 2 of the table following B.01.603]; and

Weighted Recommended Nutrient Intakes for Vitamins and Mineral Nutrients
Table 6-6

6.3.4 Reference Standards [B.01.001, table to B.01.001.1(2)]

Reference Standards pertain to the amount of specific nutrients (other than vitamins and mineral nutrients), set out in the table to B.01.001.1(2) of the Food and Drug Regulations.

In the Nutrition Facts table, the term "Daily Value" is synonymous with "Reference Standard" for these nutrients.

The Reference Standards form one of the two reference points upon which the % Daily Value is based. (The other reference point is the "Recommended Daily Intake" which pertains to vitamins and mineral nutrients, as discussed above in 6.3.2 of this Guide)

The Reference Standards are reproduced in Table 6-7.

Reference Standards
Table 6-7

6.3.5 Daily Value and % Daily Value

The Daily Value is the reference point upon which the % Daily Value is based. The Daily Value is equivalent to either the Recommended Daily Intake (for vitamins and minerals) or the Reference Standard (for other nutrients) [B.01.001] (See 6.3.2 and 6.3.4 of this Guide).

The % Daily Value of the nutrient in one serving, rounded as indicated in the tables in 6.1 and 6.2 of this Guide, is declared in the Nutrition Facts table. It is calculated as:

% Daily Value = Amount of nutrient per serving ÷ Daily value of nutrient X 100

For nutrients present in a food in quantities greater than 100 percent of the Daily Value, the true percentage must be declared (e.g., 110% DV), taking into account the rounding rules.

The following example indicates how to calculate the % Daily Value of vitamins, fat and the sum of saturated fatty acids and trans fatty acids using the Recommended Daily Intake for the vitamins and the Reference Amounts for the remaining nutrients.

125 g of condensed tomato soup contains:

To express these quantities as a percentage of the Daily Value, divide each nutrient by the Recommended Daily Intake (RDI) or by the Reference Standard, as applicable for that nutrient (from Tables 6-5 in 6.3.2 and 6-7 in 6.3.4 of this Guide) and multiply by 100. Note that the figures are rounded as specified in Table 6-1 (and Table 6-2 for optional nutrients) in 6.1 of this Guide. The percent Daily Value is calculated using the absolute amount after rounding. (Note: since this is not a food intended solely for children less than two years of age, use the RDI in the column "Persons 2 years of age or older"):

• For Vitamin A: 72 / 1000 X 100 = 7.2%
  Rounded to 8% as per the rounding rules in item 13 in the Table 6-1 in this chapter.

• For Vitamin C: 70 / 60 X 100 = 116.7 %
  Rounded to 120% as per the rounding rules in item 13 in Table 6-1 in this chapter.

• For Thiamine: 0.09 / 1.3 X 100 = 6.9 %
  Rounded to 6% as per the rounding rules in item 14 in Table 6-2 in this chapter.

• For Folate: 15 / 220 X 100 = 6.8 %
  Rounded to 6% as per the rounding rules in item 14 in Table 6-2 in this chapter.

• For Total Fat: 1.5 / 65 X 100 = 2.3%
  Rounded to 2% as per the rounding rules in item 3 in Table 6-2 in this chapter.

• For Saturated Fat + Trans Fat: 0.7 / 20 X 100 = 3.5%
  Rounded to 4% as per the rounding rules in item 3 in Table 6-2 in this chapter.

6.4 Energy

The energy value of food means the amount of energy made available to a person's body when the constituents of the food, including protein, fat, carbohydrate and alcohol, are metabolized following ingestion of the food [B.01.001].

In nutrition, energy is measured using "Calories". This unit is equivalent to the "kilocalorie" or 1,000 calories used in chemistry. The term "Calories" must be used in prescribed nutrient content claims and in the Nutrition Facts table. In other situations, either variation may be used as it is common practice in nutrition to use "Calories" and "calories" interchangeably.

The energy value of foods should be calculated by the Atwater method, using specific factors from the latest revisions of USDA Agriculture Handbook No. 8: Composition of Foods (1984). Details of their derivation are outlined in A.L. Merrill and B.K. Watt, Energy Value of Foods - Basis and Derivation, USDA Handbook 74 (1955). The following average factors may be used in place of the specific factors provided that the energy values are in reasonable agreement with the more accurate values determined according to Merrill and Watt.

Average Energy Content of Nutrients
Table 6-8

6.4.1 Converting Calories to Kilojoules

To convert Calories to kilojoules, use the following formula: 1 Calorie = 4.184 kilojoules

Calculation Example - Oatmeal
Table 6-9

Calculate the energy content of 250 mL of cooked oatmeal using specific energy factors:

Total energy = 72.31 Cal
Rounded = 70 Cal
Converted to kilojoules: 72.31 Cal x 4.184 = 302.5 kJ
Rounded = 300 kJ

Calculation Example -  Macaroni and Cheese
Table 6-10

Calculate the energy of 250 mL of macaroni and cheese using the average energy values:

Total energy = 447 Cal

Converted to kilojoules: 447 Cal x 4.184 = 1870.25 kJ

Rounded = 1870 kJ

6.4.2 Energy Values of Sugar Alcohols, Polydextrose and Glycerol

Energy Values - Sugar Alcohols, Polydextrose & Glycerol
Table 6-11

6.4.3 Energy Value of Dietary Fibre

It is unacceptable to subtract the weight of dietary fibre from the weight of carbohydrate prior to applying the "factor of 4" when you do not have an accurate energy value for a specific source(s) of fibre in a food.

A value of less than 4 Cal (17 kJ) per gram may be used for the dietary fibre content if a specific energy value is available for the fibre source.

Energy Value of Bran

When calculating the energy value for the dietary fibre portion of the total carbohydrate content, an energy value of 0.6 Cal (2.5 kJ) may be used for the dietary fibre of wheat bran. The energy value of wheat bran itself is 2.4 Cal (10 kJ).

Chapter 6: Sections 6.1-6.4 | Sections 6.5-6.11