Food and Drug Regulations
B.01.008.2 (1) A list of ingredients shall be introduced by a title that shall
(a) consist of the term
(i) “Ingredients” or “Ingredients:” in the English version of the list, and
(ii) “Ingrédients”, “Ingrédients:” or “Ingrédients:” in the French version of the list;
(b) be shown in bold type; and
(c) be shown without any intervening printed, written or graphic material appearing between the title and the first ingredient shown in the list.
(2) A list of ingredients shall be shown in a manner that clearly differentiates it on the label, by means of one or both of
(a) graphics in the form of a solid-line border around the list or one or more solid lines appearing immediately above, below or at the sides of the list that are the same colour as that of the type used to show the information referred to in subsection B.01.008.1(1); and
(b) a background colour that creates a contrast between the background colour of the list and the background colour used on the adjacent area of the label, other than the area used to display a food allergen source, gluten source and added sulphites statement, as defined in subsection B.01.010.1(1), a declaration referred to in subsection B.01.010.4(1) and a nutrition facts table.
(3) In a list of ingredients, ingredients shall be shown
(a) in descending order of their proportion by weight of the prepackaged product, determined before they are combined to form the prepackaged product;
(b) in lower case letters, except that upper case letters shall be used to show
(i) the first letter of each ingredient or, in the case of a food additive shown in whole or in part by an acronym, the entire acronym, and
(ii) the alpha-descriptor that forms a part of the common name for a food additive, vitamin or micro-organism; and
(c) separated by a bullet point or a comma.
(4) Despite paragraph (3)(a), the following ingredients may be shown at the end of the list of ingredients, in any order:
(a) spices, herbs and other seasonings, other than salt added separately, if the total weight of those other seasonings is no more than two per cent of the total weight of ingredients used in the manufacture of the prepackaged product excluding added water used as an ingredient that has been removed during its manufacture;
(b) natural flavours and artificial flavours;
(c) flavour enhancers;
(d) food additives, except ingredients of food additive preparations or mixtures of substances for use as a food additive;
(e) vitamins;
(f) salts or derivatives of vitamins;
(g) mineral nutrients; and
(h) salts of mineral nutrients.
(5) In a list of ingredients, the components of an ingredient shall be shown
(a) in parentheses, immediately after the ingredient, unless the source of a food allergen or gluten is shown immediately after the ingredient, in which case components of the ingredient shall be shown immediately after that source;
(b) in descending order of their proportion by weight of the ingredient, determined before the components are combined to form the ingredient;
(c) in lower case letters, except that upper case letters shall be used to show
(i) in the case of a food additive shown in whole or in part by an acronym, the entire acronym, and
(ii) the alpha-descriptor that forms a part of the common name for a food additive, vitamin or micro-organism; and
(d) separated by a comma.
(6) Despite paragraph B.01.008(1)(b) and paragraphs (5)(a) and (b), but subject to section B.01.009, if one or more components of an ingredient are required by these Regulations to be shown in a list of ingredients, the ingredient is not required to be shown in the list if all components of the ingredient are shown in the list by their common names and in accordance with subsection (3) as if they were ingredients.
(7) In a list of ingredients, the source of a food allergen or gluten shall be shown
(a) immediately after the ingredient or component to which it applies in accordance with subsections B.01.010.1(8) and (10);
(b) entirely in lower case letters; and
(c) separated by a comma from any other source of a food allergen or gluten that is shown for the same ingredient or component.
(8) If the English and French versions of a list of ingredients appear on the label, they shall be displayed on a continuous surface of the available display surface, but need not be on the same continuous surface of the available display surface.
(9) If the English and French versions of a list of ingredients appear on the same continuous surface of the label, the version that follows the other version shall not begin on the same line as that on which the other version ends, except in the case of a prepackaged product that has an available display surface of less than 100 cm2.
- SOR/2016-305, s. 5
- SOR/2021-46, s. 2
- SOR/2022-143, s. 6
- Date modified: