Regulating Sports Nutrition Products

This guide on sports nutrition products helps retailers spot products that do not comply with Canadian law. Retailers are responsible for keeping such items off their shelves.

The guide offers a common violations checklist regarding label claims. It also lists unacceptable ingredients that have been found in sports nutrition products in Canada. These range from anabolic steroids and hormones to tryptophan. Adding vitamins, minerals and amino acids to food is also strictly controlled.

Some sports nutrition products, because of their composition or the metabolic claims on their labels, come under the definition of a drug. In such cases, they must have a drug identification number issued by Health Canada.

Weight loss claims are restricted, but they are allowed on certain products. These include meal replacements and prepackaged meals. The labels on these products must say "Useful in weight reduction only as part of an energy-reduced diet".

You may also be interested in the following:

Nutrition labelling: An overview of the Guide to Food Labelling and Advertising (link to the new lead page on this topic)

Interactive Nutrition Label and Quiz

Nutrition Labelling... Get the Facts