Nutrition labelling – Directory of nutrition symbol specifications
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- Organization: Health Canada
- Supersedes: July 2022
- Published: 2024-07-17
Overview
This document contains tables that outline formatting specifications of the variations of the nutrition symbol that are acceptable for use on prepackaged products. It also:
- identifies key nutrition symbol features
- sets out the layout of information presented as well as required graphic standards for each nutrition symbol variation
This document is incorporated by reference into the Food and Drug Regulations.
For graphic illustrations of the variations of the nutrition symbol, please refer to the Compendium of nutrition symbol formats.
Who this document is for
- Food industry
- Other interested stakeholders
In this document
- Reference diagrams
- Table 1: Unilingual horizontal format
- Table 2: Unilingual vertical format
- Table 3: Bilingual horizontal format
- Table 4: Bilingual vertical format
Reference diagrams
Figure 1 - Text description
This figure shows a nutrition symbol for the principal display panel that indicates that a prepackaged product is high in saturated fat, sugars and sodium. This symbol is bilingual, with the English text shown first, followed by the French text.
There is a white rectangular box outlined by a thin black line. At the top left of the box is a black magnifying glass. To the right of the magnifying glass is a heading composed of the words "High in" above the words "Élevé en" in black, bold, lower case letters, except that the first letter of the words "High" and "Élevé" are in upper case. Under the heading are three bars that are stacked. There is a small amount of white space between each bar, as well as between both ends of the bars and the thin black line that outlines the box. The first bar is black and contains the words "Sat fat" above the words "Gras sat." in white, bold, lower case letters, except that the first letter of the words "Sat" and "Gras" are in upper case. The second bar is white, is outlined by a thin black line and contains no words. The third bar is black and contains the word "Sodium" in white, bold, lower case letters, except that the first letter is in upper case. Centred at the bottom of the box are the words "Health Canada" above the words "Santé Canada" in black, lower case letters, except that the first letter of each word is in upper case.
All elements of the nutrition symbol are greyed out and there is a green dotted rectangular box around the nutrition symbol.
There is text shown around the outside of the nutrition symbol with red arrows pointing to the symbol specifications. This is described below.
Starting at the top left of the nutrition symbol, there are two sets of arrows pointing to square brackets representing the width and height of the nutrition symbol followed by the words "Column 3 Nutrition symbol dimensions" open bracket "width" by "height" closed bracket.
At the bottom left of the nutrition symbol, there is an arrow pointing to the space between the nutrition symbol and the green dotted rectangular box followed by the words "Column 4 Minimum buffer surrounding the symbol".
Next to this, there is another arrow pointing to the magnifying glass followed by the words "Column 10 Diameter of the lens of the magnifying glass".
Towards the right, at the bottom of the nutrition symbol, there is an arrow pointing to the letter x between the word "Santé" and the word "Canada" followed by the words "Column 8" open quotation mark x closed quotation mark "height of letters for the words Health Canada" forward slash "Santé Canada".
On the right side of the nutrition symbol, there is an arrow pointing to the letter G in the word "Gras" followed by the words "Column 5 Height of upper case letters or tallest ascender of lower case letters" open bracket "except for the words Health Canada" forward slash "Santé Canada" closed bracket.
At the bottom right of the nutrition symbol, there is an arrow pointing to the letter d in the word "Canada" followed by the words "Column 6 Height of upper case letters or tallest ascender of lower case letters for the words Health Canada" forward slash "Santé Canada".
At the top right of the nutrition symbol, there is an arrow pointing to the letter x between the word "Élevé" and the word "en" followed by the words "Column 7" open quotation mark x closed quotation mark "height of letters" open bracket "except for the words Health Canada" forward slash "Santé Canada" closed bracket.
On the right side of the nutrition symbol, towards the bottom, there is an arrow pointing to a black bar followed by the words "Column 9 Height of the black" forward slash "white bars".
Figure 2 - Text description
This figure shows a nutrition symbol for the principal display panel that indicates that a prepackaged product is high in saturated fat, sugars and sodium. This symbol is bilingual, with the English text shown first, followed by the French text.
There is a white rectangular box outlined by a thin black line. At the top left of the box is a black magnifying glass. To the right of the magnifying glass is a heading composed of the words "High in" above the words "Élevé en" in black, bold, lower case letters, except that the first letter of the words "High" and "Élevé" are in upper case. Under the heading are three bars that are stacked. There is a small amount of white space between each bar, as well as between both ends of the bars and the thin black line that outlines the box. The first bar is black and contains the words "Sat fat" above the words "Gras sat." in white, bold, lower case letters, except that the first letter of the words "Sat" and "Gras" are in upper case. The second bar is black and contains the word "Sugars" above the word "Sucres" in white, bold, lower case letters, except that the first letter of each word is in upper case. The third bar is black and contains the word "Sodium" in white, bold, lower case letters, except that the first letter is in upper case. Centred at the bottom of the box are the words "Health Canada" above the words "Santé Canada" in black, lower case letters, except that the first letter of each word is in upper case.
All elements of the nutrition symbol are greyed out and there is a green dotted rectangular box around the nutrition symbol.
There is text shown around the outside of the nutrition symbol with red arrows pointing to the symbol specifications. This is described below. Starting at the left side of the nutrition symbol, towards the center, there is an arrow pointing to the magnifying glass followed by the words "Column 10 Diameter of the lens of the magnifying glass".
At the bottom left of the nutrition symbol, there is an arrow pointing to the space between the nutrition symbol and the green dotted rectangular box followed by the words "Column 4 Minimum buffer surrounding the symbol".
At the top of the nutrition symbol, there are two sets of arrows pointing to square brackets representing the width and height of the nutrition symbol followed by the words "Column 3 Nutrition symbol dimensions" open bracket "width" by "height" closed bracket.
Towards the right, at the bottom of the nutrition symbol, there is an arrow pointing to the letter x between the word "Santé" and the word "Canada" followed by the words "Column 8" open quotation mark x closed quotation mark "height of letters for the words Health Canada" forward slash "Santé Canada".
At the top right of the nutrition symbol, there is an arrow pointing to the letter x between the word "High" and the word "in" followed by the words "Column 7 open quotation mark x closed quotation mark "height of letters" open bracket "except for the words Health Canada" forward slash "Santé Canada" closed bracket.
Towards the centre, on the right side of the nutrition symbol there is an arrow pointing to the letter S in the word "Sat" followed by the words "Column 5 Height of upper case letters or tallest ascender of lower case letters" open bracket "except for the words Health Canada" forward slash "Santé Canada" closed bracket.
Towards the centre, on the right side of the nutrition symbol there is an arrow pointing to a black bar followed by the words "Column 9 Height of the black" forward slash "white bars".
At the bottom right of the nutrition symbol, there is an arrow pointing to the letter d in the word "Canada" followed by the words "Column 6 Height of upper case letters or tallest ascender of lower case letters for the words Health Canada" forward slash "Santé Canada".
Item |
Column 1 Range of principal display surface |
Column 2 Nutrition symbol in Schedule K.1 of the Food and Drug Regulations |
Column 3 Nutrition symbol dimensions (width x height) |
Column 4 Minimum buffer surrounding the nutrition symbolFootnote a |
Column 5 Height of upper case letters or tallest ascender of lower case letters (except for the words Health Canada / Santé Canada) |
Column 6 Height of upper case letters or tallest ascender of lower case letters for the words Health Canada / Santé Canada |
Column 7 "x" height of letters (except for the words Health Canada / Santé Canada) |
Column 8 "x" height of letters for the words Health Canada / Santé Canada |
Column 9 Height of the black / white bars |
Column 10 Diameter of the lens of the magnifying glass |
| 1 | > 600 cm2 | 1(EH) and 1(FH) 2(EH) and 2(FH) 3(EH) and 3(FH) 4(EH) and 4(FH) 5(EH) and 5(FH) 6(EH) and 6(FH) 7(EH) and 7(FH) |
4.42 cm x 3.30 cm | 2.7 mm | 3.5 mm | 3.0 mm | 2.7 mm | 2.3 mm | 6.2 mm | 17.3 mm |
| 2 | > 450 cm2 to ≤ 600 cm2 | 1(EH) and 1(FH) 2(EH) and 2(FH) 3(EH) and 3(FH) 4(EH) and 4(FH) 5(EH) and 5(FH) 6(EH) and 6(FH) 7(EH) and 7(FH) |
3.79 cm x 2.83 cm | 2.3 mm | 3.0 mm | 2.5 mm | 2.3 mm | 1.9 mm | 5.3 mm | 14.8 mm |
| 3 | > 250 cm2 to ≤ 450 cm2 | 1(EH) and 1(FH) 2(EH) and 2(FH) 3(EH) and 3(FH) 4(EH) and 4(FH) 5(EH) and 5(FH) 6(EH) and 6(FH) 7(EH) and 7(FH) |
3.10 cm x 2.36 cm | 1.9 mm | 2.5 mm | 2.0 mm | 1.9 mm | 1.5 mm | 4.3 mm | 12.1 mm |
| 4 | > 100 cm2 to ≤ 250 cm2 | 1(EH) and 1(FH) 2(EH) and 2(FH) 3(EH) and 3(FH) 4(EH) and 4(FH) 5(EH) and 5(FH) 6(EH) and 6(FH) 7(EH) and 7(FH) |
2.50 cm x 1.89 cm | 1.5 mm | 2.0 mm | 1.8 mm | 1.5 mm | 1.3 mm | 3.5 mm | 9.8 mm |
| 5 | > 30 cm2 to ≤ 100 cm2 | 1(EH) and 1(FH) 2(EH) and 2(FH) 3(EH) and 3(FH) 4(EH) and 4(FH) 5(EH) and 5(FH) 6(EH) and 6(FH) 7(EH) and 7(FH) |
1.87 cm x 1.42 cm | 1.1 mm | 1.5 mm | 1.5 mm | 1.1 mm | 1.1 mm | 2.6 mm | 7.3 mm |
| 6 | ≤ 30 cm2 | 1(EH) and 1(FH) | 1.87 cm x 1.42 cm | 1.1 mm | 1.5 mm | 1.5 mm | 1.1 mm | 1.1 mm | 2.6 mm | 7.3 mm |
| 8(EH) and 8(FH) 9(EH) and 9(FH) 10(EH) and 10(FH) |
1.37 cm x 1.20 cm | 1.1 mm | 1.5 mm | 1.5 mm | 1.1 mm | 1.1 mm | 2.6 mm | 2.9 mm | ||
| 11(EH) and 11(FH) 12(EH) and 12(FH) 13(EH) and 13(FH) |
1.37 cm x 0.85 cm | 1.1 mm | 1.5 mm | 1.5 mm | 1.1 mm | 1.1 mm | 2.6 mm | 2.9 mm | ||
EH: English horizontal
|
||||||||||
Item |
Column 1 Range of principal display surface |
Column 2 Nutrition symbol in Schedule K.1 of the Food and Drug Regulations |
Column 3 Nutrition symbol dimensions (width x height) |
Column 4 Minimum buffer surrounding the nutrition symbolFootnote a |
Column 5 Height of upper case letters or tallest ascender of lower case letters (except for the words Health Canada / Santé Canada) |
Column 6 Height of upper case letters or tallest ascender of lower case letters for the words Health Canada / Santé Canada |
Column 7 "x" height of letters (except for the words Health Canada / Santé Canada) |
Column 8 "x" height of letters for the words Health Canada / Santé Canada |
Column 9 Height of the black / white bars |
Column 10 Diameter of the lens of the magnifying glass |
| 3 | > 250 cm2 to ≤ 450 cm2 | 1(EV) and 1(FV) 2(EV) and 2(FV) 3(EV) and 3(FV) 4(EV) and 4(FV) 5(EV) and 5(FV) 6(EV) and 6(FV) 7(EV) and 7(FV) |
2.17 cm x 2.75 cm | 1.9 mm | 2.5 mm | 2.0 mm | 1.9 mm | 1.5 mm | 4.4 mm | 6.2 mm |
| 4 | > 100 cm2 to ≤ 250 cm2 | 1(EV) and 1(FV) 2(EV) and 2(FV) 3(EV) and 3(FV) 4(EV) and 4(FV) 5(EV) and 5(FV) 6(EV) and 6(FV) 7(EV) and 7(FV) |
1.75 cm x 2.19 cm | 1.5 mm | 2.0 mm | 1.8 mm | 1.5 mm | 1.3 mm | 3.5 mm | 5.0 mm |
| 5 | > 30 cm2 to ≤ 100 cm2 | 1(EV) and 1(FV) 2(EV) and 2(FV) 3(EV) and 3(FV) 4(EV) and 4(FV) 5(EV) and 5(FV) 6(EV) and 6(FV) 7(EV) and 7(FV) |
1.37 cm x 1.80 cm | 1.1 mm | 1.5 mm | 1.5 mm | 1.1 mm | 1.1 mm | 2.9 mm | 3.9 mm |
| 6 | ≤ 30 cm2 | 1(EV) and 1(FV) | 1.37 cm x 1.80 cm | 1.1 mm | 1.5 mm | 1.5 mm | 1.1 mm | 1.1 mm | 2.9 mm | 3.9 mm |
| 8(EV) and 8(FV) 9(EV) and 9(FV) 10(EV) and 10(FV) |
1.37 cm x 1.40 cm | 1.1 mm | 1.5 mm | 1.5 mm | 1.1 mm | 1.1 mm | 2.9 mm | 3.3 mm | ||
| 11(EV) and 11(FV) 12(EV) and 12(FV) 13(EV) and 13(FV) |
1.37 cm x 0.85 cm | 1.1 mm | 1.5 mm | 1.5 mm | 1.1 mm | 1.1 mm | 2.9 mm | 2.9 mm | ||
EV: English vertical
|
||||||||||
Item |
Column 1 Range of principal display surface |
Column 2 Nutrition symbol in Schedule K.1 of the Food and Drug Regulations |
Column 3 Nutrition symbol dimensions (width x height) |
Column 4 Minimum buffer surrounding the nutrition symbolFootnote a |
Column 5 Height of upper case letters or tallest ascender of lower case letters (except for the words Health Canada / Santé Canada) |
Column 6 Height of upper case letters or tallest ascender of lower case letters for the words Health Canada / Santé Canada |
Column 7 "x" height of letters (except for the words Health Canada / Santé Canada) |
Column 8 "x" height of letters for the words Health Canada / Santé Canada |
Column 9 Height of the black / white bars |
Column 10 Diameter of the lens of the magnifying glass |
| 1 | > 600 cm2 | 1(BH) 2(BH) 3(BH) 4(BH) 5(BH) 6(BH) 7(BH) |
6.29 cm x 3.30 cm | 2.7 mm | 3.5 mm | 3.0 mm | 2.7 mm | 2.3 mm | 6.2 mm | 17.3 mm |
| 2 | > 450 cm2 to ≤ 600 cm2 | 1(BH) 2(BH) 3(BH) 4(BH) 5(BH) 6(BH) 7(BH) |
5.40 cm x 2.83 cm | 2.3 mm | 3.0 mm | 2.5 mm | 2.3 mm | 1.9 mm | 5.3 mm | 14.8 mm |
| 3 | > 250 cm2 to ≤ 450 cm2 | 1(BH) 2(BH) 3(BH) 4(BH) 5(BH) 6(BH) 7(BH) |
4.50 cm x 2.36 cm | 1.9 mm | 2.5 mm | 2.0 mm | 1.9 mm | 1.5 mm | 4.3 mm | 12.4 mm |
| 4 | > 100 cm2 to ≤ 250 cm2 | 1(BH) 2(BH) 3(BH) 4(BH) 5(BH) 6(BH) 7(BH) |
3.60 cm x 1.89 cm | 1.5 mm | 2.0 mm | 1.8 mm | 1.5 mm | 1.3 mm | 3.5 mm | 9.9 mm |
| 5 | > 30 cm2 to ≤ 100 cm2 | 1(BH) 2(BH) 3(BH) 4(BH) 5(BH) 6(BH) 7(BH) |
2.80 cm x 1.42 cm | 1.1 mm | 1.5 mm | 1.5 mm | 1.1 mm | 1.1 mm | 2.6 mm | 7.4 mm |
| 6 | ≤ 30 cm2 | 1(BH) | 2.80 cm x 1.42 cm | 1.1 mm | 1.5 mm | 1.5 mm | 1.1 mm | 1.1 mm | 2.6 mm | 7.4 mm |
| 8(BH) 9(BH) 10(BH) |
2.50 cm x 1.20 cm | 1.1 mm | 1.5 mm | 1.5 mm | 1.1 mm | 1.1 mm | 2.6 mm | 4.2 mm | ||
| 11(BH) 12(BH) 13(BH) |
2.50 cm x 0.85 cm | 1.1 mm | 1.5 mm | 1.5 mm | 1.1 mm | 1.1 mm | 2.6 mm | 3.9 mm | ||
BH: Bilingual horizontal
|
||||||||||
Item |
Column 1 Range of principal display surface |
Column 2 Nutrition symbol in Schedule K.1 of the Food and Drug Regulations |
Column 3 Nutrition symbol dimensions (width x height) |
Column 4 Minimum buffer surrounding the nutrition symbolFootnote a |
Column 5 Height of upper case letters or tallest ascender of lower case letters (except for the words Health Canada / Santé Canada) |
Column 6 Height of upper case letters or tallest ascender of lower case letters for the words Health Canada / Santé Canada |
Column 7 "x" height of letters (except for the words Health Canada / Santé Canada) |
Column 8 "x" height of letters for the words Health Canada / Santé Canada |
Column 9 Height of the black / white bars |
Column 10 Diameter of the lens of the magnifying glass |
| 3 | > 250 cm2 to ≤ 450 cm2 | 1(BV) 2(BV) 3(BV) 4(BV) 5(BV) 6(BV) 7(BV) |
2.17 cm x 4.10 cm | 1.9 mm | 2.5 mm | 2.0 mm | 1.9 mm | 1.5 mm | 7.8 mm | 6.2 mm |
| 4 | > 100 cm2 to ≤ 250 cm2 | 1(BV) 2(BV) 3(BV) 4(BV) 5(BV) 6(BV) 7(BV) |
1.75 cm x 3.31 cm | 1.5 mm | 2.0 mm | 1.8 mm | 1.5 mm | 1.3 mm | 6.3 mm | 5.0 mm |
| 5 | > 30 cm2 to ≤ 100 cm2 | 1(BV) 2(BV) 3(BV) 4(BV) 5(BV) 6(BV) 7(BV) |
1.37 cm x 2.60 cm | 1.1 mm | 1.5 mm | 1.5 mm | 1.1 mm | 1.1 mm | 4.9 mm | 3.9 mm |
| 6 | ≤ 30 cm2 | 1(BV) | 1.37 cm x 2.60 cm | 1.1 mm | 1.5 mm | 1.5 mm | 1.1 mm | 1.1 mm | 4.9 mm | 3.9 mm |
| 8(BV) 9(BV) 10(BV) |
1.37 cm x 2.05 cm | 1.1 mm | 1.5 mm | 1.5 mm | 1.1 mm | 1.1 mm | 4.9 mm | 3.3 mm | ||
| 11(BV) 12(BV) 13(BV) |
1.37 cm x 1.50 cm | 1.1 mm | 1.5 mm | 1.5 mm | 1.1 mm | 1.1 mm | 4.9 mm | 3.3 mm | ||
BV: Bilingual vertical
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