Food Labelling and Advertising

Core Labelling
Requirements

• Common Name
• Net Quantity
• Name & Address
• List of Ingredients
• Date Markings
• Nutrition Labelling
• Bilingual
• Legibility and Location

Other
Requirements

• Claims and Statements
• Advertising
• Allergens
• Pictures, Vignettes, Logos
• Composition

Interactive labelling overview

Highlights

General Information

Federal responsibility for development of Canadian food labelling requirements is shared among two federal departments, Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA).

Health Canada

Health Canada is responsible, under the Food and Drugs Act (FDA), for the establishment of policies and standards relating to the health, safety, and nutritional quality of food sold in Canada.

Canadian Food Inspection Agency

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is responsible for the administration of food labelling policies related to misrepresentation and fraud in respect to food labelling, packaging and advertising (FDA), and the general agri-food and fish labelling provisions respecting grade, quality and composition specified in the Canada Agricultural Products Act (CAPA), the Meat Inspection Act (MIA) and the Fish Inspection Act (FIA). In addition, the CFIA has responsibility for the administration of the food-related provisions of the Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act (CPLA), including basic food label information, net quantity, metrication and bilingual labelling.

The CFIA is responsible for the enforcement of all of the above requirements.

• Introduction
• Legislative Framework: Key Acts and Regulations
  • Food and Drugs Act
  • Food and Drug Regulations
  • Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act
  • Consumer Packaging and Labelling Regulations
• Enforcement of Regulations
• History of the Guide to Food Labelling and Advertising and Guiding Principles
• Purpose of Food Labelling
• Foods Requiring a Label
  • Samples; Door to Door Distribution
  • Samples – Free Samples
• Definitions
• Sources of Additional Information on Labelling and Claims
• CFIA Food Labelling Information Service
• CFIA's Label Registration Unit
  • Label Reviews and Registration
• Test Market Foods
• Temporary Marketing Authorization Letter (TMAL)
• Interim Marketing Authorization (IMA)