Canada Proposes Labeling Reform to Make Healthy Eating Easier

15 Jun 2015 --- The Canadian government has unveiled several initiatives including proposed changes to nutritional labelling regulations in an effort to give Canadians the information they need to make healthy food choices for themselves and their families.

The labelling changes respond to comments made by parents, consumers and health organizations and the food industry in earlier consultations held throughout 2014. 

The Government of Canada is also breaking new ground in the labelling of sugars on foods. Proposed changes would give Canadians clear information about the sugars contained in the foods they eat. 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, whether there is a little or a lot of sugar, and what the source of sugar is.

This proposal also requires that manufacturers list all food colouring agents by their common name within the ingredient list on the label. This will allow consumers who have sensitivities to specific food colours to avoid those ingredients when shopping for food.

A new health claim would also be allowed on pre-packaged fruits and vegetables that would make it easier to let Canadians know about the health benefits of eating fruits and vegetables.

Ambrose also announced new public education tools, including a My Food Guide mobile application and the Eat Well Plate, to help Canadians apply the dietary guidance of Canada’s Food Guide to build a healthy meal.

The Eat Well Plate will help Canadians visualize food proportions, and encourages them to make half their plate vegetables and fruit. The new My Food Guide mobile application will help Canadians access healthy eating information anytime, anywhere. The My Food Guide app allows individuals to create an easy-to-use customized Canada's Food Guide and will help them understand Food Guide servings and types of foods to choose for a healthy diet.

Ambrose continued: “Parents told us they have difficulty comparing similar food products because the serving sizes displayed on labels were inconsistent and did not reflect the amount of food they typically eat. For this reason, our Government is mandating the standardization of serving sizes so Canadians can more easily compare products and make better decisions about healthy foods.” 

Mary Lewis VP, Research and Knowledge Exchange, Heart and Stroke Foundation, said: "The Heart and Stroke Foundation is pleased to see these proposed revisions to nutrition labelling, in particular, mandatory standardized serving sizes for similar products and more complete information about sugars in the ingredients list. We believe these to be steps in the right direction towards providing Canadians with better information to make healthy food choices.”

Canadians will be consulted on the proposed regulatory changes to the nutrition information on food labels for a 75-day comment period, ending on August 26. These changes are being published in Canada Gazette, Part I on June 13, 2015.