Food and Drug Regulations (C.R.C., c. 870)

B.01.008.1 (1) Information appearing on the label of a prepackaged product according to sections B.01.008.2 to B.01.010.4, B.01.014 and B.29.020 shall be shown

• (a) in a single colour of type that is a visual equivalent of 100% solid black type on a white background or a uniform neutral background with a maximum 5% tint of colour;

• (b) in a single standard sans serif font that is not decorative and in a manner that the characters never touch each other or any differentiating feature under subsection B.01.008.2(2);

• (c) in type of normal or condensed width that is not scaled down so that the characters take up less space horizontally and, if a nutrition facts table or supplemented food facts table appears on the label, the width of type must be the same as that required for the type used to show the nutrients that appear in the nutrition facts table or the supplemental ingredients that appear in the supplemented food facts table, as the case may be;

• (d) in regular type, except as otherwise provided in those sections; and

• (e) in type that is the same height that is not less than 1.1 mm with identical leading of not less than 2.5 mm, except as otherwise provided in this section or those sections.

(2) Despite paragraph (1)(a), a list of ingredients appearing on the label of the following prepackaged products is not required to be shown on a white background or a uniform neutral background with a maximum 5% tint of colour:

• (a) a prepackaged product that is intended solely for use as an ingredient in the manufacture of other prepackaged products intended for sale to a consumer at the retail level or as an ingredient in the preparation of food by a commercial or industrial enterprise or an institution; and

• (b) a prepackaged product that is a ready-to-serve multiple-serving prepackaged product intended solely to be served in a commercial or industrial enterprise or an institution.

(3) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (4) and sections B.01.008.2 to B.01.010.4, if a nutrition facts table or supplemented food facts table appears on the label of a prepackaged product and the type size of the nutrients shown in the nutrition facts table or the supplemental ingredients shown in the supplemented food facts table is not less than 8 points, the information referred to in subsection (1) must be shown in type that is

• (a) the same height as the type in which the nutrients are shown in the nutrition facts table or the supplemental ingredients are shown in the supplemented food facts table, as the case may be; and

• (b) of a height that is not less than 1.4 mm with identical leading of not less than 3.2 mm.

(4) A title that introduces a list of ingredients, 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) or a list of cautionary statements may be shown in type that is of a greater height than the type used to show the information in either of the lists, the statement or the declaration, as the case may be.

(5) If more than one of the titles referred to in subsection (4) appears on a label, the characters of each title must be of the same height.

(6) For the purpose of this section, the height of type means the height of the lower case letter “x”.

B.01.008.2 (1) A list of ingredients shall be introduced by a title that shall

• (a) consist of the term

  • (i) “Ingredients”, “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 surface of the label, other than the surface used to display

  • (i) a food allergen source, gluten source and added sulphites statement as defined in subsection B.01.010.1(1),

  • (ii) a declaration referred to in subsection B.01.010.4(1),

  • (iii) any statement referred to in subsection B.01.014(1),

  • (iv) a nutrition facts table,

  • (v) a supplemented food facts table, or

  • (vi) a list of cautionary statements.

(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 or supplemental ingredient 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, supplemental ingredient or microorganism; 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;

• (h) salts of mineral nutrients; and

• (i) supplemental ingredients.

(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 or supplemental ingredient 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, supplemental ingredient or microorganism; 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.

B.01.008.3 (1) If a prepackaged product contains one or more sugars-based ingredients, despite the order of presentation referred to in paragraph B.01.008.2(3)(a), the sugars-based ingredient or ingredients shall be shown in the list of ingredients, in parentheses, immediately following the term

• (a) “Sugars” in the English version of the list; and

• (b) “Sucres” in the French version of the list.

(2) The term “Sugars” referred to in subsection (1) shall be shown in the list of ingredients

• (a) in descending order of the proportion by weight of all the sugars-based ingredients in the prepackaged product, before they are combined to form the product; and

• (b) separated from other ingredients by a bullet point or a comma.

(3) Each sugars-based ingredient mentioned immediately following the term “Sugars” shall be shown,

• (a) despite paragraph B.01.008.2(3)(b), entirely in lower case letters; and

• (b) in the case of more than one sugars-based ingredient,

  • (i) in descending order of its proportion by weight of the prepackaged product as prescribed by subsection B.01.008.2(3), and

  • (ii) separated by a comma.

(4) Subsections (1) to (3) do not apply to the following prepackaged products:

• (a) a sweetening agent;

• (b) fruit or vegetable juice or vegetable drink that does not contain any sweetening agent, as well as any mixture of those juices and drinks, including any of those juices and drinks

  • (i) to which fruit or vegetable purée or any mixture of those purées has been added,

  • (ii) that are reconstituted, or

  • (iii) that are a concentrate intended for dilution and consumption as juice or drink;

• (c) fruit or vegetable purée that does not contain any sweetening agent as well as any mixture of those purées;

• (d) prepackaged products that contain only one sugars-based ingredient that contains the word “sugar” in its common name;

• (e) formulated liquid diets, human milk fortifiers and human milk substitutes; and

• (f) prepackaged products that contain less than 0.5 g of sugars per serving of stated size.

B.01.009 (1) Components of ingredients or of classes of ingredients set out in the following table are not required to be shown on a label:

(2) Subject to subsection (3), where a preparation or mixture set out in the table to this subsection is added to a food, the ingredients and components of the preparation or mixture are not required to be shown on the label of that food.

(3) Where a preparation or mixture set out in the table to subsection (2) is added to a food, and the preparation or mixture contains one or more of the following ingredients or components, those ingredients or components shall be shown by their common names in the list of the ingredients of the food to which they are added as if they were ingredients of that food:

• (a) salt;

• (b) glutamic acid or its salts;

• (c) hydrolyzed plant protein;

• (d) aspartame;

• (e) potassium chloride;

• (f) any ingredient or component that performs a function in, or has any effect on, that food; and

• (g) any supplemental ingredient.

(4) Notwithstanding subsections (1) and (2), where any of the following components is contained in an ingredient set out in the tables to those subsections, that component shall be shown in the list of ingredients:

• (a) peanut oil;

• (b) fully hydrogenated peanut oil; and

• (c) modified peanut oil.

(5) [Repealed, SOR/2011-28, s. 2]