Guide to Food Labelling and Advertising

The Guide to Food Labelling and Advertising is a tool to help industry protect consumers and comply with Canadian laws.

• The guide helps industry with the claims they make about food on labels and in advertising, so that these claims are not false or misleading.
• It also sets out rules for information that must be provided.

All this helps you make informed choices about the food you buy.

For a full list of topics in the guide, see the table of contents.

Consumers often want to know the rules for:

• lists of ingredients
• best-before dates (durable life dates)
• labelling food "Product of Canada" or "Made in Canada"

The guide also has rules for making guarantees of quality or describing food as fresh, organic, natural, homemade, kosher and pure (including descriptions like "100%" or "all"). See Chapter 4 for rules on these and other descriptions.

You can read about basic labelling requirements, including:

• nutrition facts table
• use of common food names
• artificial flavours

There is also detailed information about the elements in the nutrition facts table. These include serving size, daily intake, vitamins and minerals.

You can read about controls on health claims for food and descriptions like "light" or "33% less sodium" (and other nutrient content claims)].

People with allergies may be interested in which ingredients must be declared on labels (including ingredients of other ingredients) and which are exempt. The guide also lists mandatory names for ingredients. See Annex 1, 2, 3 and 4 of Chapter 2, Basic Labelling Requirements.

People who care for children may want to read about labels on:

• infant foods and formulas
• foods intended solely for children under age two

You may also be interested in the following:

Food Allergens (information for consumers and industry)

Food and Nutrition: Questions and Answers on Health Claims

Nutrition Labelling

Interactive Nutrition Label and Quiz

Nutrition Labelling... Get the Facts!