Food Labelling Changes: What You Need to Know

What’s one thing almost all our vending products have in common? A food label. Most products contain both nutrition fact tables and an ingredient list so that consumers can make an informed decision about the food they are eating. You may have already noticed a change to food labels, but if you haven’t, you will by December; Health Canada has announced that starting December 15, 2022, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) will start to enforce a new nutrition fact table and ingredient list.

What Are the Changes: 

1. Font: Serving sizes and calories will be displayed more prominently with a larger font and more surrounding white space; calories will also be underlined and bolded.
2. Serving Sizes: Serving sizes will be more consistent across similar food items, making it easier to compare products. For example, all yogurt will have the same serving size of 3/4 a cup, instead of one yogurt brand using 1/3 a cup, and another brand using 1/2 a cup serving size. The serving size will also reflect a realistic amount that Canadians would consume in one sitting.  
3. Order of Nutrients: Fat, carbohydrates, and protein are all nutrients that contribute to calories, and will be displayed directly underneath calories. 
4. Vitamins and Minerals: Potassium will now be a required nutrient on labels, displacing Vitamins A and C. Potassium is a nutrient Canadians do not typically get enough of and is important for maintaining a healthy blood pressure; iron and calcium will continue to be listed. It is now required that these nutrients are displayed in both mg and a percentage (%) daily value rather than just as a percentage.  
5. Daily Values: There will now be a footnote at the bottom of each nutrition fact label, helping consumers interpret % daily values. The foot note will read: “5% or less is a little, 15% or more is a lot.” Sugar will also now have a % daily value to help consumers determine whether the food they are consuming contains a little or a lot of sugar. 
6. Ingredients: Will now be shown on white background in black font, so that it is more legible. It will also be listed in descending order by weight, and separated by bullet point or comma. Food colours will be listed by common name, rather than just listing the word “colour”. And sugar-based ingredients will be grouped together with the type of sugar listed in brackets after the term “sugar.” For example, “sugar (brown sugar, cane sugar).” 

These amendments aim to improve consumers understanding of the nutrition facts table and ingredients, ultimately helping Canadians to make more informed choices when it comes to food. For more information regarding food labeling changes visit: https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/food-labelling-changes.html 

Need assistance finding healthier options? Let Complete Purchasing Services (CPS) vending (formerly Univend) help you to find the perfect supplier partners to ensure that your offering includes healthier options that your customers will crave.

About the Author:
Victoria Verhaeghe is a nutrition graduate from the University of Western Ontario currently interning with CPS as part of her practice-based internship to prepare in becoming a Registered Dietitian.