Food Labelling

Act: Food and Drugs Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. F-27;Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. C-38;Canada Agricultural Products Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. 20, 4th Supp.;Meat Inspection Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. 25, 1st Supp.;Fish Inspection Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. F-12;Weights and Measures Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. W-6

To Whom Does This Apply?

All producers, manufacturers, advertisers, importers and retailers of food products are subject to these requirements.

Summary

Note: On January 1, 2003, amendments to the Food and Drug Regulations came into force for the following three types of nutrition information: Nutrition labelling: mandatory Nutrition Facts label on prepackaged foods, listing calories and 13 nutrients, with a few exemptions; Nutrition claims: updates to the requirements for nutrient content claims (e.g., "free of trans fatty acids" or "low sodium"); Diet related health claims: new claims permitted for foods that are suitable for diets that reduce the risk of certain chronic diseases, such as heart disease or cancer.  The regulations contain a transitional provision that allows a period of time for the labelling and advertising of products that still meet the former regulations to comply with the new regulations. The transition period is three years after the day the nutrition labelling regulations came into force, or five years for a product sold by a manufacturer who had gross revenue from sales in Canada of food of less than $1 000 000 for the 12 month period immediately prior to these regulations coming into force. During the transition period, the CFIA will enforce both the current requirements of the Food and Drugs Act and Regulations and the new requirements that will have been published in the Canada Gazette, Part II. Foods cannot be labelled with a combination of the two nutrition labelling systems. There are some circumstances where the transition time frame does not apply. For more information on the new regulations, please contact the CFIA.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency administers the federal labelling requirements for prepackaged foods under the Food and Drugs Act and Regulations and the Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act and Regulations.

Some prepackaged foods are also subject to the labelling requirements of the regulations under the Canada Agricultural Products Act, the Meat Inspection Act, the Fish Inspection Act, the Weights and Measures Act and, in a few cases, provincial acts and regulations.

A "prepackaged" product means any food that is contained in a package in the manner in which it is ordinarily sold to, used by, or purchased by, a consumer or by a commercial enterprise, without being repackaged.

A "label" includes any legend, word or mark attached to, included in, belonging to or accompanying any food.

Basic Labelling Requirement for Prepackaged Foods:

• All of the information on food labels must be true, not misleading or deceptive.
• All prepackaged food products require a mandatory and standardized Nutrition Facts table listing calories and 13 nutrients (fat, saturated fats, trans fats, cholesterol, sodium, carbohydrate, fibre, sugars, protein, calcium, iron, and vitamins A and C) for a specified amount of food. Some exceptions may apply.
• All prepackaged products must meet specific requirements for nutrient content claims (e.g., "free of trans fatty acids" or "low sodium").
• All mandatory information on food labels must be shown in both French and English. Some exceptions may apply.
• The common name must be shown on the principal display panel of the food label in both French and English.
• Prepackaged products must have a net quantity declaration in metric units, in both French and English. Some exceptions may apply.
• The name and address of the responsible party by or for whom a prepackaged product is manufactured or produced must be declared on any label panel in either French or English.
• When a product packaged for sale to consumers has been wholly produced or manufactured outside of Canada and the label carries the name and address of a Canadian dealer, the terms "imported by/importé par" or "imported for/importé pour" must precede this address, unless the geographic origin of the product; or the name and address of the foreign manufacturer is placed immediately adjacent to the Canadian name and address.
• Prepackaged multi-ingredient foods require an ingredient list (extra care may be needed in regards to Food Allergens). Some exceptions may apply.
• Information on artificial flavours must appear on the food label (on the vignette or close to it) in both French and English, when an illustration suggests the presence of a natural substance.
• A durable life date is required, in both French and English, on prepackaged foods with a durable life of 90 days or less, e.g., Best before/Meilleur avant: JL 24 (for the 24th of July). Some exceptions may apply.
• Container sizes are standardized for certain foods prepackaged for sale to consumers, e.g., wine, peanut butter, glucose syrups.

Other mandatory information may be required depending on the food or types of claims being made. As with all mandatory information on labels, such statements must be in both French and English.

Labels of shipping containers, such as those for commercial, industrial or institutional use require a net quantity declaration in either metric or Canadian measure; other mandatory information such as the common name, the list of ingredients, etc. are also required to appear in at least one official language. Bilingualism is optional in this instance.

Imported products must meet the same labelling requirements as foods produced in Canada.

Retailers are also legally obligated to ensure that the products they sell are compliant with the appropriate regulations.

Food Allergens

The Food and Drug Regulations requires a complete and accurate list of ingredients and their components on the label of most pre-packaged foods. There are some exemptions to this requirement. For example, certain components of the ingredients used in making sandwiches may be exempt from declaration under the Regulations. However, a pre-packaged food product labelled with a list of ingredients is unsafe for people with food allergies if some of those ingredients or components are priority allergens and are not declared on the label. Failure to declare allergenic components may be contrary to Subsection 5(1) of the Food and Drugs Act and Subsection 7(1) of the Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act. These products may therefore be subject to regulatory measures taken by the CFIA, including a product recall.

Most allergic reactions are caused by the following foods and their derivatives:

• Peanuts
• Tree nuts (almonds, Brazil nuts, cashews, hazelnuts [filberts], macadamia nuts, pecans, pine nuts, pistachios, walnuts)
• Sesame seeds
• Milk
• Eggs
• Seafood (fish, crustaceans, shellfish)
• Soy
• Wheat
• Sulphite

Additional Information

The Single Access Food Labelling Service provides the Canadian agri-food industry, importers and exporters with a single access service for food label review and advice on labelling issues. This special service has been assigned to the CFIA for all food products. You may also see the Guide to Food Labelling and Advertising on their Web site.

DISCLAIMER
Information contained in this section is of a general nature only and is not intended to constitute advice for any specific fact situation. For particular questions, the users are invited to contact their lawyer. For additional information, see contact(s) listed below.

Quebec Contact(s):
Regional Director, Montreal East
Canadian Food Inspection Agency
Room 600
7101 Jean-Talon Street East
Anjou, Quebec  H1M 3N7
Telephone: 514-493-8859
Fax: 514-493-9965
Toll-free (information): 1-800-442-2342
TTY Toll-free (hearing impaired): 1-800-465-7735
Web site: http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/toce.shtml

Regional Director, Montreal West
Canadian Food Inspection Agency
Room 1450
2021 Union Street
Montréal, Quebec  H3A 2S9
Telephone: 514-283-8982
Fax: 514-283-1855
Toll-free (information): 1-800-442-2342
TTY Toll-free (hearing impaired): 1-800-465-7735
Web site: http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/toce.shtml

Regional Director, Saint-Hyacinthe
Canadian Food Inspection Agency
Suite 206
3100 Laframboise Boulevard
Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec  J2S 4Z4
Telephone: 450-773-6639
Fax: 450-774-8522
Toll-free (information): 1-800-442-2342
TTY Toll-free (hearing impaired): 1-800-465-7735
Web site: http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/toce.shtml

Regional Director, Québec
Canadian Food Inspection Agency
Suite 100
Place Iberville IV
2954 Laurier Boulevard
Ste-Foy, Quebec  G1V 5C7
Telephone: 418-648-7373
Fax: 418-648-4792
Toll-free (information): 1-800-442-2342
TTY Toll-free (hearing impaired): 1-800-465-7735
Web site: http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/toce.shtml

---

National Contact(s):
Canadian Food Inspection Agency
59 Camelot Drive
Nepean, Ontario  K1A 0Y9
Telephone: 613-225-2342
Fax: 613-228-6601
Toll-free (information): 1-800-442-2342
TTY Toll-free (hearing impaired): 1-800-465-7735
Web site: http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/toce.shtml
Hours of operation: Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. (Eastern Time).