Current food labels include
Common/usual product name, name & address of manufacturer, packer or distributer, Nutrition contents of product (nutrition facts table), Ingredients – by weight- most to least, Front-of-package labelling about high sugar or sodium or saturated fat (required Jan 2026)
Nutrition Facts Table
Serving size, Servings/container, Calories, Nutrient & some % Daily Values, Fat, Saturated and Trans fat, Carbohydrate, Fibre and Sugars, Protein, Cholesterol, Sodium, Potassium, Calcium, Iron
Nutrition Facts Table presents information in 2 ways
Absolute quantities (grams or milligrams), Percentage of standards (%DV)
Daily Values are based on
recommended daily intakes for vitamins and minerals or reference standards for carbohydrates, protein, fats, and fibre OR healthy daily maximums such as total fat, saturated & trans-fat as well as sodium
% Daily Values
calculations used to determine the “% Daily Value” figure for nutrient contributions from a serving of food are based on a 2,000-calorie diet
Foods that don’t require a nutrition facts table
alcoholic beverages, fresh fruits and vegetables, refillable glass dairy containers, very small packages, such as one-bite candy, raw, single-ingredient meat, poultry, fish and seafood (except ground meat), items with insignificant calories and nutrients, such as herbs and spices, food sold by small-batch producers, such as those sold at craft shows and farmer’s markets, food sold only in grocery stores where the product is prepared or packaged in-store, individual portions for immediate consumption, such as a sandwich or muffin sold in plastic wrap
Ingredient List
listed from most to least by weight, Sugar ingredients are grouped together after the word sugars.
Use the ingredient list to
check if a food product has a certain ingredient, identify sources of nutrients, such as sugars, avoid a food product in case of a food allergy or intolerance, understand how much added sugar is in the food compared to other ingredients
Sugars Include
monosaccharide or disaccharide or a combo of these, any other ingredient that contains 1 or more sugars and that is added to the product as a functional substitute for a sweetening agent, ex. White sugar, beet sugar, raw sugar or brown sugar, ex. Agave syrup, honey, maple syrup, barley malt extract or fancy molasses, Fructose, glucose, glucose-fructose (AKA high fructose corn syrup), maltose, sucrose or dextrose, Fruit juice concentrates and puree concentrates that are added to replace sugars in foods
Food Allergen Labelling
Packaged foods that contain any priority allergen, gluten sources or added sulphites, must indicate this in the ingredients or using a contains statement
As of January 1st, 2026, a front-of-package symbol was required on foods high in at least one of the following
Sodium – Sugars – Saturated fat
Rationale
Frequent intake in foods ↑ in sodium, sugars or sat fat linked to ↑ health risks such as: stroke, obesity, heart disease T2D, HBP, some cancers. Help shoppers make fast, informed choices, Support health professionals in educating Canadians
The front-of-package nutrition symbol is mandatory for prepackaged foods
that meet or exceed set levels for sodium, sugars or saturated fat.
Some foods do not need to display a nutrition symbol
foods exempt for technical reasons, such as: milk and cream sold in refillable glass containers, foods in very small packages raw, single ingredient whole cuts of meat, poultry and fish that do not carry a nutrition facts table
Some foods do not need to display a nutrition symbol. ie
foods with a protective effect on health, such as fruits and vegetables without added sodium, sugars, or saturated fat, certain dairy products, such as plain milk, plain yogurt and cheese because they are important sources of calcium that is needed to promote bone health and reduce the risk of osteoporosis, raw, single ingredient ground meats and poultry to avoid giving the impression that they are nutritionally inferior to whole cuts that do not carry a nutrition symbol, butter, sugar, salt, and other products used for the same purpose as butter, sugar or salt, such as honey, celery salt, maple syrup, vegetable oils, seasoning salt
Nutrition Claims include two types
Nutrient content claims: May highlight a nutrition feature of a food such as light, low, less, free. Health claims (2): disease reduction claims and function claims
Nutrient content claims
Must meet criteria for specific claims defined by Canada’s Food and Drug Regulations… ex. cholesterol-free, source of fibre
Real life examples
Excellent source of vitamin C; good source of potassium; source of folate (Tropicana Orange juice), Very high source of fibre (Fibre First Multi-Bran Cereal), A very high source of fibre; low in fat; excellent source of iron, thiamin and folate; source of riboflavin and niacin (Catelli Healthy Harvest Rotini)
Examples of Nutrient Content Claims
Keyword, What they mean, Free, An amount so small, health experts consider it nutritionally insignificant, Sodium Free, Less than 5mg of sodium, Cholesterol Free, Less than 2mg of cholesterol, and low in saturated fat (includes a restriction on trans-fat), Not necessarily low in fat, Low, Always associated w/ a very small amount, Low Fat, 3g of fat or less, Low in Saturated Fat, 2g or less of saturated and trans-fat combined
Disease reduction claims
Highlight a relationship b/w consumption of a food or ingredient and a person’s health.
Disease risk reduction claims are quite restricted in Canada
Require a scientifically established relationship b/w diet and reduction in chronic disease
Ex
sodium and potassium, and the link to high blood pressure, calcium and vitamin D, and the link to osteoporosis, vegetables and fruit reduce the risk of heart disease and some types of cancer, plant sterols help reduce cholesterol
Strict criteria must be met & must be scientifically proven
Ex: healthy diet containing foods high in potassium and low in sodium may reduce the risk of HBP, a risk factor for stroke and heart disease
To make a health claim about potassium, sodium and reduced risk of HBP, the food
(Must be) low in (or free of) sodium, high in potassium, low in saturated fatty acids, limited in alcohol, must have more than 40 Calories if the food is not a vegetable or fruit, must have a minimum amount of at least one vitamin or mineral
