Regulations and compliance: Nutrition labelling

Regulations

Regulations Amending the Food and Drug Regulations (Nutrition Labelling, Other Labelling Provisions and Food Colours)

As part of Health Canada's Healthy Eating Strategy, the final amendments to the Food and Drug Regulations (FDR) (Nutrition Labelling, Other Labelling Provisions and Food Colours) were published in the Canada Gazette, Part II on December 14, 2016. See food labelling changes for more information.

The legislative authorities obtained through the Jobs, Growth, and Long-term Prosperity Act of 2012, have provided Health Canada with the ability to make more timely updates to scientific information. This is accomplished by moving some information from regulatory text into documents that are incorporated by reference into the FDR. These may be updated administratively by the Minister.

In the case of nutrition labelling, three documents have been incorporated by reference:

• Nutrition Labelling: Table of Reference Amounts for Food (formerly Schedule M to the FDR);
• Nutrition Labelling: Table of Daily Values (this is a new document replacing the reference standards in the Table to Section B.01.001.1 and the recommended daily intakes found in Table I to Division 1 and Table I to Division 2 of Part D of the FDR); and
• Nutrition Labelling: Directory of Nutrition Facts Table Formats (formerly Schedule L to the FDR).

Health Canada will keep stakeholders advised of potential changes to these incorporated documents through consultation and notification processes.

Compliance

Health Canada is responsible for developing nutrition labelling regulations and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is responsible for enforcing them.

With respect to the new regulations published on December 14, 2016, a five year transition period was established for industry to meet the new requirements. Companies may apply either the former regulations or the new regulations during this time. The transition period for the 2016 nutrition labelling changes ended December 14, 2021. However, given the challenges imposed by COVID-19, the CFIA will focus its efforts on education and compliance promotion for the first year, until December 14, 2022. Between December 15, 2022, and December 14, 2023, CFIA will verify compliance and apply enforcement discretion in cases where non-compliant companies have detailed plans showing how they intend to meet the new requirements at the earliest possible time.

Please consult CFIA's updated Industry Labelling Tool for all food labelling questions, including those related to the new requirements. Any additional questions may be directed to CFIA.

Compendium of templates for nutrition facts tables and list of ingredients

To help label designers and the food and packaging industry meet the format specifications of the regulations, Health Canada has created the Compendium of Templates: Nutrition Facts Tables and List of Ingredients. The templates are the actual-size graphic illustrations for various Nutrition Facts table formats permitted by the FDR. For the list of ingredients, there are many variations that could meet the graphic specifications set out in the FDR. Some examples have been provided within the Compendium to demonstrate acceptable variations.

Guide to developing accurate nutrient values

Health Canada, in collaboration with the CFIA, has prepared the Guide to Developing Accurate Nutrient Values to assist the food industry, private laboratories, academia, health professionals and government agencies in developing accurate nutrient values for a variety of purposes, including nutrition labelling.

Contact

If you are interested in staying abreast of consultations, policies and regulations related to nutritional sciences please add yourself to Stakeholder Registry (CSIMS): sign up for health consultations.