The Nutrition Month 2022 theme is “Unlock the Potential of Food: Ingredients for a Healthier Tomorrow”.
For over 40 years, Dietitians of Canada has promoted Nutrition Month as an opportunity to increase awareness and education on nutrition issues. As food service professionals and consumers, we often face challenges in understanding nutrition information on labels, as well as how to interpret that information. This is an excellent opportunity to further explore the key aspects of ingredients in our food supply and implications for today and the future. For more information and tools on this year’s Nutrition Month campaign, visit nutritionmonth2022.ca and/or unlockfood.ca
In 2016, the Food and Drug Regulations were updated by Health Canada to make it easier to understand and interpret label information. This includes improvements in the Nutrition Facts Table, as well as listing of ingredients, based on the latest scientific evidence. Manufacturers have until December 15, 2022 to complete this process.
Nutrition Facts Table
The updated Nutrition Facts Table has a larger font and is easier to read. The list of nutrients has been updated to include potassium.
Serving Size Information
The serving size has been standardized to be able to make it easier to compare labels from similar products. For example, in a bulk juice product, the serving size is 1 cup (250 mL) even though the actual serving size offered to the patient or resident may differ.
Percentage Daily Value (%DV)
The Percentage Daily Value (%DV) has been updated to reflect current scientific evidence. A statement is now added to the bottom of the label to indicate that “5% or less is a little, 15% of more is a lot”. This was often confusing to understand in the past since some nutrients on the former labels were only reflected in %DV. The updated Nutrition Facts Panel now indicates actual nutrients for calcium and iron
Ingredients
The ingredients continue to be listed in descending order of concentration of what is in the product. With the new regulations, sugars provide the actual names of the sugar called out in brackets. Food colours used, whether natural or artificial, are also required to identify the actual name. Allergens are also included on this list.
Nutrition Claims
Nutrition Claims include types of information provided on labels, namely nutrient claims and health claims. Both are optional for the manufacturer to include. There are certain criteria established by Health Canada to be eligible to make a Nutrition Claim. For example, depending on the amount of fibre per serving, the product could be labelled as a “source of fibre”, “high source of fibre” or “very high source of fibre”. Lassonde Foodservice has carried out the changes required for Nutrition Labelling over the past few years. Here is an example of Fairlee® Peach with Fibre indicating 5 grams of fibre (15% DV) per 250 mL serving, justifying the “high source of fibre” claim.
Want to learn more about Health Canada’s changes to Nutrition Labelling?
Health Canada offers an excellent, free, self-paced Nutrition Labelling Online Course with six modules including Food Labelling in Canada, Nutrition Facts Table, Serving Size information, % Daily Value, Ingredients, and Nutrition Claims. See details below.
References:
Dietitians of Canada website www.NutritionMonth2022.ca
Health Canada, Nutrition Labelling Online Course, Nutrition Labelling Online Course – Canada.ca