History of the Guide to Food Labelling and Advertising and
Guiding Principles for Food Labelling and Advertising

Development of the Guide to Food Labelling and Advertising (the Guide)

Since 1961, the Guide for Food Manufacturers and Advertisers has served as an important reference document for the food industry on policies and regulations for the labelling and advertising of foods in Canada, in particular those falling under the Food and Drugs Act and Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act. By providing clear policy advice and basic ground rules respecting the use of labelling and claims, the Guide seeks to enhance industry compliance and consumer protection.

Since its original publication, the Guide has undergone two major amendments, in 1993 and again, ten years later, in 2003.

In 1993, a review of the Guide was initiated and included:

• the revision of policies and updating of regulations in the existing Guide,
• the consolidation of various labelling and advertising policies, handbooks and manuals into a single compendium and
• the development of processes for the ongoing updating and communication of labelling policies.

At that time, a Review Committee comprised of industry and consumer associations advised on planning and priorities for the project and reviewed in detail the Guide format, content, distribution and updating process as well as individual policy proposals. A sub-group of the Review Committee (Canadian Advertising Foundation, Canadian Council of Grocery Distributors and the Grocery Products Manufacturers of Canada) developed the guiding principles on behalf of the food industry, in consultation with the associations which supported the principles. You can find a list of these principles further on in this section.

The result of the 1993 review was an expanded Guide, the "Guide to Food Labelling and Advertising". A number of policies were revised or introduced as a result of consultation: "Kosher", "Home-made", "Organic", "Bran", "Lean", "Sweetened", "Salted", "Fresh", "Negative Claims", "Compliance Guidelines for Nutrition labelling" and "% (name of the nutrient)-Free". Others had minor updates or included new information.

In 2003, the Guide underwent another amendment process to include the nutrition labelling, nutrient content claims and disease risk reduction claims and amendments of the Food and Drug Regulations. The Guide was reorganized, reformatted, updated and expanded to include guidelines on the nutrition labelling format, nutrient content claims, disease risk reduction claims, and labelling requirements specific to certain commodities.

Amendments will be made to the Guide to further clarify policies or as new policies are issued.

The Guide to Food Labelling and Advertising is available on the Internet at http://www.inspection.gc.ca To find out about amendments, visit the Guide to Food Labelling and Advertising website or contact us at http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/tools/feedback/commene.shtml.

Guiding Principles for the Federal Food Labelling and Advertising System

1. Policies will be developed in a responsible manner to ensure that federal food labelling policies and regulations:
   • are necessary to protect health and safety and to prevent product misrepresentation and fraud;
   • promote an informed food choice, by providing consumers with reliable and comparable information, that reflects current food technology and nutrition recommendations and that can be easily understood;
   • support marketplace equity and fair competition;
   • respect obligations under international and federal provincial trade agreements;
   • do not entail costs of implementation that outweigh benefits to society.
2. Consultations will be conducted in a timely and thorough manner with interested parties so that regulations and policies will be responsive to stakeholder needs.
3. Final regulations and policies will be communicated to all stakeholders:
   • those who are subject to the policy or regulation will be informed in a timely manner; and,
   • communications will be clear, concise and complete, so that requirements will be readily understood by all those affected.
4. Enforcement of regulations and policies will be applied in a fair and responsible manner.

Guiding Principles for Labelling and Advertising by the Canadian Food and Beverage Industry

The Canadian food and beverage industry, working in partnership with government, is committed to:

• maintain truth and integrity in consumer communications
• strive to ensure that product communications comply with existing food regulations and current practices and policies
• allow consumers to make informed choices by striving to promote messages in advertising and labelling that:
  • reflect consumer requirements for food consistent with current health, safety and nutrition recommendations;
  • reflect current technological advancements;
  • do not mislead the consumer;
  • promote fair competition in the marketplace.

Interactive labelling overview

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