Health Canada lists proposed changes to Nutrition Facts Table in Canada Gazette I, if approved industry will have 5 years for compliance.

The Government of Canada is helping to empower Canadians to make healthy food choices for themselves and their families by announcing a number of proposed changes to the current nutritional labelling regulations. The changes are the response to comments made by parents, consumers and health organizations, and the food industry in earlier consultations held throughout 2014.

These changes aim to make it easier for Canadians to read labels and the Nutrition Facts table, by initiatives such as mandating consistent serving sizes for similar foods, and improving the legibility of the ingredients lists. This would also include new ground in the labelling of sugars on foods: the proposed addition of a percentage daily value for sugar and changes to the way sugars are identified in the list of ingredients will make it easier to understand how much sugar is in a product.

These changes have been published in Canada Gazette, Part I on June 13, 2015, with a 75-day comment period ending on August 27.

A summary of the proposed changes can be found below:

• Regulation of serving sizes to make them consistent and realistic, making it easier for Canadians to compare similar foods.
• Make it easier to find information on serving size and calories.
• Add a footnote at the bottom of the nutrition facts table to explain how to use percent daily value (% DV).
• Improve the labelling of sugars. A new % DV for sugars will tell Canadians whether a food has a little or a lot of sugars. In the list of ingredients, sugars will be grouped. This will help consumers see how much added sugars are included compared to other ingredients.
• Make the ingredient list and information on allergens easier to find and read.
• Identify food colours by their common name in the list of ingredients. This will help consumers who have sensitivities to certain food colours to avoid those ingredients when shopping for food.
• Allow the use of a new health claim: “A healthy diet rich in a variety of vegetables and fruits may help reduce the risk of heart disease.”

Health Canada is proposing a 5 year transition period, from the time the Amendments are published in Canada Gazette II, for companies of all sizes to align with the new nutrition labelling. Dicentra can help you get ahead of the game by providing guidance on the design and creation of Nutrition Fact Tables, novel food ingredients, and the creation of temporary marketing authorization applications (TMAs). We will also be sure to provide you with any updates as soon as they become available.

dicentra provides sought-after guidance on product and marketing compliance, quality assurance and safety standards, research and development, new ingredient assessments and overall regulatory strategies for food and health-related products sold in North American marketplaces. We can be reached at 1-866-647-3279 or info@dicentra.com

Canada Gazelle, Part 1 Consultation

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