Food Labelling and Allergen Control

Health Canada, through the Food and Drug Act, regulates the labelling of food products in Canada. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is the federal agency responsible for enforcing these regulations.

Nutrition Facts Table
Nutrient Content and Health Claims
Ingredient Listing
Allergen Control
More Information
Related Links

Nutrition Facts Table

The 'Nutrition Facts' table is intended to provide more information to the consumers on the foods they buy and eat. Thus, they can compare this information and make healthier food choices. This information needs to be presented in a complete, consistent and easy-to-read format. To facilitate consistency on the tables, Health Canada had published The Compendium of Templates for 'Nutrition Facts' Tables (PDF 642KB), which includes templates of the various versions of the 'Nutrition Facts' table permitted by the Food and Drug Regulations on nutrition labelling.

The 'Nutrition Facts' table must provide information on calories and on the following 13 nutrients: fat, saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, sodium, carbohydrate, fibre, sugars, protein, vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium and iron.

The 'Nutrition Facts' table will appear on most pre-packaged products, but some exceptions include:

fresh fruit and vegetables
raw meat and poultry, except for ground meat and ground poultry
raw fish and seafood
food products prepared and sold in retail establishments (ex: sausages made at retail)
products with insignificant amounts of all 13 core nutrients in a normal serving
alcoholic beverages
individual servings of food intended for immediate consumption

More information on 'Nutrition Facts' table is at: nutrition labelling (CFIA)

Nutrient Content and Health Claims

Regulations for making nutrient content claims (ex: low in saturated fat, low sodium, etc) and for presenting this information properly on food labels are available at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency website.

Diet-related health claims, for foods products related to risk reduction of heart disease, cancer, osteoporosis and high blood pressure, are also being allowed for the first time in Canada. For more information on diet-related health claims visit the CFIA website.

Ingredient Listing

In both Canada and the United States, all ingredients must be listed by their common name, in descending order of proportion. The list of ingredients must be complete, including potential allergenic ingredients. The size of the text and its position on the label are also regulated.

Allergen Control

The presence of undeclared allergens in foods not only creates a risk of life-threatening allergic reactions in persons with allergies, but also can lead to costly recalls.

As a result of the high risk of some allergic reactions, food processors must declare on the label any of the following foods, or any protein-containing derivatives of these if added as an ingredient in pre-packaged foods:

mustard seed
peanuts
tree nuts
sesame
sulphites
milk
eggs
fish, crustaceans and shellfish
soy
wheat

For more information on food allergens and how to manage an allergen risk in food products, visit CFIA website.

Where to Obtain More Information on Food Labelling

To obtain additional information on labelling and claims please visit the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) web site or contact a CFIA food office in Manitoba by selecting "food" in the first drop down menu and "Manitoba" in the second drop down menu

For further information on food labelling, including proposed enhanced labelling initiatives to make label declaration of priority allergens mandatory, please visit the Health Canada website.