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Labelling requirements for sweeteners and foods that contain sweeteners

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Overview

The intent of this webpage is to outline the labelling requirements for sweeteners and foods that contain sweeteners.

The only sweeteners that are permitted for use in Canada are the ones included in Health Canada's List of permitted sweeteners. In order for these sweeteners to be used, they must be used in accordance with the permitted foods, maximum levels of use, and other conditions outlined in the List of permitted sweeteners.

Sweeteners and sweetening agents are not synonymous terms. Sweetening agents, such as granulated sugar and honey, are regulated in Division 18 of the Food and Drug Regulations (FDR), and must comply with the standards outlined in that Division. This webpage will not be discussing information related to sweetening agents.

Mandatory labelling of sweeteners

Like all food additives, sweeteners must be declared in the list of ingredients of the prepackaged foods which they are present in [B.01.008(1)(b), FDR]. See Order of ingredients for more information.

In addition, several sweeteners and foods containing sweeteners are subject to the following mandatory labelling requirements:

Aspartame, sucralose, acesulfame-potassium and/or neotame labelling

The label of a food sweetened with aspartame must include a statement warning individuals with phenylketonuria that the food contains phenylalanine or a statement to indicate that aspartame contains phenylalanine [B.01.014(1), FDR]. The phenylalanine statement must:

For more information on the manner of declaring the phenylalanine statement, refer to the section on Legibility and location of the List of ingredients and allergens page.

The following are examples of acceptable phenylalanine statements:

The label of a table-top sweetener that contains aspartame, sucralose, acesulfame-potassium or neotame must declare a statement of the sweetness per serving expressed in terms of the amount of sugar required to produce an equivalent degree of sweetness [B.01.023, FDR].

Polydextrose labelling requirements

Polydextrose is a permitted food additive synthesized from dextrose (glucose). The label of a food containing polydextrose must indicate the amount of polydextrose, expressed in grams per serving of stated size [B.01.018, FDR]. The amount of polydextrose must be included in the total amount of carbohydrates declared in the Nutrition Facts table. See Elements within the Nutrition Facts table for more information.

For more information on polydextrose, refer to Health Canada's web page on Sugar alcohols and polydextrose.

Sugar alcohols labelling requirements

Sugar alcohols (in other words polyols) provide energy in the form of carbohydrates similarly to sweetening agents (in other words white and brown table sugars). They are also known as sugar relatives, and provide fewer calories per gram than typical sweetening agents. The sugar alcohols (in other words polyols) that are permitted for use as food additives in Canada are: hydrogenated starch hydrolysates, isomalt, lactitol, maltitol, maltitol syrup, mannitol, sorbitol, sorbitol syrup, xylitol and erythritol.

When these sugar alcohols are present in a food, their total content must be declared in the Nutrition Facts table in grams per stated serving size [B.01.402(6), FDR]. See Elements within the Nutrition Facts table for more information.

The label of a food containing erythritol must indicate the amount of erythritol expressed in grams per serving of stated size unless this is already declared with the nutrition information on the label. The declaration of the amount of erythritol must be grouped together with the statement of the amount of any other sugar alcohols and the amount of polydextrose [B.01.021, FDR].

For more information on sugar alcohols, refer to Health Canada's web page on Sugar alcohols and polydextrose.

Additional requirements

Additional information about sweeteners

The majority of sweeteners are non-nutritive sweeteners, with a few exceptions (for example sugar alcohols and polydextrose). For more information about sweeteners that provide calories, see Elements within the Nutrition Facts table.

Non-nutritive sweeteners, such as aspartame, sucralose, acesulfame-potassium, neotame, stevia, cyclamate and saccharin, do not provide calories on their own. When these sweeteners are added to foods, they may however contain calories from other ingredients or components that are added to the food with them, such as carriers. It is therefore the responsibility of the manufacturer account for this when developing nutrition labels.

Steviol glycosides labelling requirements

There are no additional labelling requirements for steviol glycosides when used as a food additive. The labelling requirements for steviol glycosides are the same as those applicable to all prepackaged products and ingredients. Additional labelling requirements only occur when steviol glycosides are used in combination with other sweeteners such as aspartame, sucralose, acesulfame-potassium and neotame [B.01.014, B.01.023, FDR].

Saccharin as a food additive

Saccharin and its salts (calcium saccharin, potassium saccharin and sodium saccharin) are part of Health Canada's List of permitted sweeteners. This enables the use of saccharin and/or its salts as sweeteners in: breath fresheners, unstandardized canned fruit, chewing gum, unstandardized frozen desserts, toppings/topping mixes, unstandardized alcoholic liqueurs, unstandardized carbonated non-alcoholic beverages, unstandardized fruit spreads, preoperative beverages and table-top sweeteners. Like all other food additives, when used as permitted, saccharin and/or its salts are required to be shown in the list of ingredients on prepackaged foods. For more details, refer to Health Canada's Notice of modification to the List of permitted sweeteners to enable the use of saccharin, calcium saccharin, potassium saccharin and sodium saccharin as sweeteners in various unstandardized foods.

Monk fruit ingredients

Monk fruit extract is included in Health Canada's list of permitted sweeteners with authorized use in table-top sweetenersFootnote 1 only. The mandatory labelling requirements applicable are those for all sweeteners.

In contrast, other monk fruit ingredients such as monk fruit juice concentrate are not considered as sweeteners, but are considered as acceptable food ingredients because of their lower mogroside V content. Monk fruit ingredients added to food products following good manufacturing practice must be labelled appropriately. See List of ingredients for details.

Cyclamate as non-food product

Cyclamate is only permitted as non-food product under specific conditions.

As per Part E of the FDR, cyclamate sweeteners are not permitted to be used in foods. These sweeteners are subject to Part E of the FDR, which thereby excludes them from the requirements of Part B of the FDR [E.01.001, FDR].

Cyclamate sweeteners as non-food products are only allowed to be sold for direct consumer use when they meet the following conditions:

The label of cyclamate sweeteners that meet the specifications above must additionally carry:

Additional information

For more information about sweeteners, please visit the following links:

Definitions

Cyclamate sweetener
"Cyclamate sweetener" means a cyclohexyl sulfamic acid, a salt thereof, any substance containing cyclohexyl sulfamic acid or salt thereof that is sold as a sweetener [E.01.001(1), FDR].
Non-nutritive sweeteners
"Non-nutritive sweeteners" also called high intensity sweeteners, do not provide calories or influence blood sugar levels. As these compounds are significantly sweeter than table sugar, their energy contribution is negligible. Examples of non-nutritive sweeteners include: cyclamate, saccharin, aspartame, sucralose, acesulfame potassium, neotame and stevia.
Sugar alcohols
"Sugar alcohols" (also known as polyols) are food additives that are used as sweeteners and texturizing/bulking agents in foods. Examples of sugar alcohols include isomalt, lactitol, maltitol, maltitol syrup, mannitol, sorbitol, sorbitol syrup, xylitol, erythritol and hydrogenated starch hydrolysates.
Sweetener
"Sweetener" means a food additive that is used to impart a sweet taste to food [B.01.001(1), FDR]. Examples of food additives that may be used as sweeteners include aspartame, maltitol and sorbitol. For a complete list, refer to Health Canada's List of permitted sweeteners.
Sweetening agent
"Sweetening agent" includes any food for which a standard is provided in Division 18, FDR but does not include those food additives included in Health Canada's List of permitted sweeteners [B.01.001(1), FDR]. Examples of sweetening agents include white and brown table sugar, molasses and honey.
Table-top sweetener
Table-top sweeteners are considered to be high intensity sweeteners that can be manufactured in liquid, powder, or granular formats and are intended for addition to foods ad libitum by the end consumer at their own discretion (for example, to impart a sweet taste to coffee or tea intended for personal consumption) and are not meant to be used as an ingredient.
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