Safe Food for Canadians Regulations

Marginal note:Prepackaged fish

• 262 (1) The label of prepackaged fish must bear

  • (a) in the case of salmon that is in a hermetically sealed package, the word “Skinless” or the expression “sans peau” or the word “Boneless” or the expression “sans os” or “sans arête”, if the skin and the vertebrae have been removed from the salmon and the salmon consists of sections of flesh that are cut transversely from the fish and are nearly equal in length to the height of the hermetically sealed package;

  • (b) in the case of minced salmon or trimmings from the tail and nape sections of a salmon or other small pieces of salmon, the word “Minced” or the expression “haché” or the expression “Salmon Tips” or “bouts de saumon”, as the case may be, if the salmon or trimmings are in a hermetically sealed package;

  • (c) in the case of unfrozen lobster meat that has been packaged without the addition of brine, the expression “Dry Pack” or “emballage à sec”;

  • (d) in the case of frozen lobster meat, the expression “Frozen Lobster Meat” or “chair de homard congelée”;

  • (e) in the case of fish sticks, fish fingers and other uniform rectangular portions of breaded fish flesh that were manufactured or prepared from minced fish, a descriptive term declaring that the food is manufactured or prepared from minced fish;

  • (f) in the case of bivalve molluscs in the shell that are not in a hermetically sealed package, the date of processing and an expression, code or identifier that indicates the area from which the bivalve molluscs were harvested;

  • (g) in the case of tuna that is in a hermetically sealed package, one of the following expressions to describe the colour of the fish flesh:

    • (i) “White Meat Tuna” or “chair de thon blanc” or “White Tuna” or “thon blanc”, if the tuna is of the species Thunnus alalunga and has a diffuse luminous reflectance of not less than 33.7% of that of magnesium oxide,

    • (ii) “Light Meat Tuna” or “chair pâle de thon” or “Light Tuna” or “thon pâle”, if the tuna has a diffuse luminous reflectance of not less than 22.6% of that of magnesium oxide, and

    • (iii) “Dark Meat Tuna” or “chair foncée de thon” or “Dark Tuna” or “thon foncé”, if the tuna does not meet the requirements of subparagraph (ii);

  • (h) in the case of salted fish, one of the following words or expressions to describe the processing of the fish:

    • (i) “Split Fish” or “poisson fendu”, if the fish is split and at least two thirds of the anterior of the backbone has been removed,

    • (ii) “Split Fish with Entire Backbone” or “poisson fendu avec colonne vertébrale entière”, if the fish is split and no portion of the backbone has been removed,

    • (iii) “Fillet” or “filet”, in the case of a fillet as defined in section 261, and

    • (iv) any other expression that is distinctive from those set out in subparagraphs (i) to (iii) and that describes the processing of the fish;

  • (i) in the case of salted fish, one of the following expressions to describe the salt or moisture content of the fish:

    • (i) “Slack Salted Fish” or “poisson faiblement salé”, if, after salting is complete, the fish has a salt content of not more than 25% by dry weight,

    • (ii) “Light Salted Fish” or “poisson légèrement salé”, if, after salting is complete, the fish has a salt content of more than 25% but not more than 33% by dry weight,

    • (iii) “Dried Heavy Salted Fish” or “poisson fortement salé séché”, if, after salting is complete, the fish has a salt content of more than 33% by dry weight and has a moisture content of not more than 54%, and

    • (iv) “Green Heavy Salted Fish” or “poisson fortement salé en vert”, if, after salting is complete, the fish has a salt content of more than 33% by dry weight and has a moisture content of more than 54% but not more than 65%;

  • (j) in the case of fish that is in a hermetically sealed package, an indication, as part of the common name, as to whether the fish was manufactured or prepared

    • (i) by mincing, flaking or another special process,

    • (ii) from selected parts of fish, or

    • (iii) for dietetic use; and

  • (k) in all cases, a declaration of net quantity.

• Marginal note:Mackerel

  (2) In the case of mackerel or mackerel fillets that are packaged without the addition of water, brine or a vinegar solution and that are in a hermetically sealed package, the label must bear the drained weight in addition to the declaration of net quantity, if the drained weight is less than 80% of that quantity.

• Marginal note:Descriptive terms — minced fish

  (3) The descriptive term referred to in paragraph (1)(e) must be shown in close proximity to the common name and in characters that are at least the height that is the greater of

  • (a) one-half the height of the characters in which the common name is shown, and

  • (b) 1.6 mm.