Packaging and Labelling

Food safety in Canada

The safety of food is vital to all consumers and businesses. Consumers want to be confident that the food they buy and eat, is what they expect and that it will cause them no harm. As a food business, you should familiarize yourself with the 'Safe Food for Canadians Regulations'; this Act entered into force in 2019.

The Safe Food for Canadians Regulations are aligned with internationally recognized standards, such as CODEX Alimentarius, for food safety and consumer protection requirements.

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The Canadian Food Inspection Agency

The CFIA is a global leader in regulating food, animal, and plant health and safety. The existing control system was developed decades before the creation of the CFIA when most Canadian foods originated in Canada, food technology was less evolved, and supply chains were simple. As risks to food, animal health, and plants have changed considerably and continue to change rapidly, the Agency must continue to adapt to this dynamic international context.

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As a result of these regulations, food businesses are better able to: - use innovative technology - prevent foodborne illness outbreaks, - and rapidly remove unsafe food from the market when incidents occur

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As a food business that is subject to the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations, you are responsible for the following:

• Ensuring food you prepare domestically, import or export, is safe and meets the regulatory requirements,
• Ensuring food is of a nature, substance, and quality that complies with compositional and grade requirements,
• Ensuring food is labeled, advertised, and presented in a way that is not false or misleading and meets the regulatory requirements.

It is the role of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to verify compliance with regulatory requirements. Take enforcement action when non-compliance is found; and assist food businesses in understanding how to comply with all applicable federal food legislation and regulations.

The following legislative regimes apply to food in Canada within the Canadian Food Inspection Agency:

What other federal legislation applies to food in Canada?

• The Food and Drugs Act (and the Food and Drugs Regulations) apply to all food sold in Canada.
• The Safe Food for Canadians Regulations mainly apply to food that is imported, exported and traded inter-provincially.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency may also issue Administrative Monetary Penalties which are issued under the authority of the Agriculture and Agri-Food Administrative Monetary Penalties Act and Regulations. These Monetary Penalties are part of a range of compliance and enforcement tools that the CFIA will use to encourage compliance with federal legislation and regulations it enforces.

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Lets clarify some points...

The Safe Food for Canadians Act and Safe Food for Canadians Regulations do not apply to:

• Food intended and used for analysis, research or exhibitions, weighing 100 kg or less.
• Food not sold for use as human food (such as pet food and cosmetics).
• Among others (food traded between federal penitentiaries, food for use of a crew and passengers of a cruise ship or military ship in Canada).
• Such food must still meet applicable requirements of the Food and Drugs Act and the Food and Drugs Regulations.

The fundamental new elements of the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations are:

• Licensing: It enables the CFIA to authorize persons to conduct certain activities through licensing; identify food businesses, collect info. about the activities of those businesses and take responsive action in cases of non-compliance.
• Preventive controls: A written preventive control plan that documents how food businesses meet food safety, human treatment and consumer protection requirements (for example, for labelling, packaging, standards of identity, grades and net quantity).
• Traceability: This part requires that food be traced forward to the immediate customer and backward to the immediate supplier (one step forward, one step back).

Refer to the food business activities that require a license under the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations guidance material to determine whether your business practices are considered to be manufacturing, processing, treating, preserving, grading, packaging, or labelling. These terms are also defined in the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations: Glossary of key terms.

'Manufacture, process, treat, preserve, grade, package, label'

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Most prepackaged foods require a label. Here we have the mandatory labelling requirements:

• Bilingual labelling (English and French).
• Common name,
• Country of Origin,
• Date Markings and Storage instructions,
• Identity a Principal Place of Business,
• List of Ingredients and Allergens,
• Net Quantity,
• Nutrition Labelling (Including Nutrition Facts Table (NFT))
• All mandatory label information must be clearly and prominently displayed and readily discernible to the purchaser or consumer under the customary conditions of purchase and use.

A.01.016, Food and Drug Regulations.

Food safety is the Canadian Food Inspection Agency's top priority A great labelling reference is found in the Online-labelling Tool (OLT) found on the CFIA website

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'Common name' means (B.01.001, Food and Drug Regulations)

Standardize name set out in the FDR or other regulations. For example, orange juice, butter, chocolate, flour, bread, wine, olive oil, cherry pie filling, etc. If the name is not prescribed, the name by which the food is commonly known, e.g. orange drink, candy bar, chocolate chip cookie, rice cracker, peanut butter, tapioca pudding, etc. The common name must be shown on the principal display panel (B.01.006, Food and Drug Regulations, 12 Consumer Packaging and Labelling Regulations).

Label example: Wild Blueberry Cocktail

Ingredients: Water, apple juice from concentrate, glucose-fructose, citric acid, natural flavor, ascorbic acid. Ingrédients: Eau, jus de pomme concentré, glucose-fructose, acide citrique, arome natural, acide ascorbique. Food and Drugs Regulations, B.11.120

Net Quantity The net quantity must be declared in metric units on the principal display panel of prepackaged foods for retail sale, (12 Consumer Packaging and Labelling Regulations; Weights and Measures Regulations).

Durable life and Storage instructions

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Dealer and name address

'Best Before' date is required for products with a durable life of 90 days or less (B.01.007, Food and Drugs Regulations). Food and Drug Regulations provide the format for declaring the best-before date. e.g. Best before/Meilleur avant 23 JN 28 'Best Before' is based upon freshness, not safety, so it is not illegal to sell a product after that date. Storage instructions are required if storage differs from normal room temperature, e.g. 'keep frozen, keep refrigerated'.

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The identity and principal place of business of the responsible party must be declared on the label (B.01.007, Food and Drug Regulations; 31 Consumer Packaging and Labelling Regulations). The 'principal place of business' is the main location where actual company-related enterprise occurs. Level of detail not prescribed, but should at least include city and province. The address should be complete for postal delivery.

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Manner of Declaring

Food Aditives

List of Ingredients According to the Food and Drug Regulations, B.01.008, prepackaged multi-ingredient foods must declare a list of ingredients and their components. Location: any panel except the bottom.

All the ingredients and their components must be declared in the ingredient list, in decreasing order by weight, B.01.008, Food and Drug Regulations, unless an exemption applies. B.01.009 exempts some ingredients from the component declaration. e.g. butter, flour, flavourings, etc. Whereas some components must always be declared, e.g. priority allergens, peanut oils, salts, glutamic acids, potassium chloride, etc.

Any chemical substance added to food during preparation or storage and either becomes a part of the food or affects its characteristics for the purpose of achieving a technical effect. e.g. colouring agents, pH adjusting agents, etc. The lists of permitted food additives are posted on Health Canada's website.

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Food Allergen definition B.01.010.1, Food and Drug Regulations

Any protein of any of the following foods or any modified protein, including any protein fraction that is derived from the following foods:

• Almonds, Brazil nuts, cashews, hazelnuts, pecans, pine nuts, pistachios, walnuts
• Peanuts
• Sesame seeds
• Wheat or triticale
• Eggs
• Milk
• Soybeans
• Fish, crustaceans, shellfish
• Mustard seeds

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Nutrition Facts Table Most prepackaged foods require this table

Special criteria for providing nutrition information

Foods used for manufacturing other foods Commercial or institutional multi-serve, ready-to-serve products (lasagna, shepherd's pie, etc.). Always exempt products from Nutrition Facts info. are one-bite candy, individual portions with meals in restaurants, milk in glass bottles, etc.

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Does the nutrition information have to appear in English and French?

Yes, this is mandatory information and as such needs to be in both English and French. Also, only English and French are permitted within the Nutrition Facts Table.

There is a 'Guide to Developing Accurate Nutrient Values'. Also, take into account the Health Canada Labelling Amendments (December 2016).

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