This guide is intended for stakeholders in the Canadian food industry. This includes Canadian manufacturers, retailers and importers of foods for sale in Canada and foreign companies who export food to Canada. The guide provides the Government of Canada’s interpretation of the new regulations related to FOP labelling that came into force on July 20, 2022. It is intended to help regulated parties become familiar with core elements of the regulations. The user is encouraged to consult the regulations including Schedule K.1, the Directory of Nutrition Symbol Specifications, the Compendium of Nutrition Symbol Formats, the Table of Daily Values, the Table of Reference Amounts, and the Table of Permitted Nutrient Content Statements and Claims while using this guide.

Momentum for mandatory front-of-package nutrition labeling continues to grow as new organizations are joining the effort to encourage the Food and Drug Administration to develop labels that would call attention to high levels of added sugars, sodium, and saturated fat in packaged, processed foods. And a new poll commissioned by CSPI finds strong public support for the proposal. 

The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, American Heart Association, American Public Health Association, Consumer Federation of America, and Consumer Reports are among 17 organizations that have filed a supportive comment with the FDA, which opened a regulatory docket in response to an August 2022 petition filed by the Center for Science in the Public Interest, the Association of State SNAP Nutrition Education Administrators, and the Association of State Public Health Nutritionists. 

Food labels are fundamental elements of communication between companies that produce food and consumers, so it is important that the information on these labels is expressed in a simple and easy to understand way. Considering that a label presents more clarity and legibility in the nutritional information of food products, RDC nº 429 and Normative Instruction nº 75 were established on October 8, 2020. In the new regulatory norms, among the labeling modifications are included, the use of frontal nutrition labeling on the packages, providing information about the nutrients that are considered relevant to the health of the consumer and the nutritional table that must present the information about certain nutrients. These changes in the nutrition label help consumers to make more appropriate and healthy food choices.

Ten countries in Latin America and the Caribbean have enacted laws or regulations on Front-of-Pack Nutrition Labeling (ENPFE). Seven of these have implemented, or are in the process of implementing, nutrition warnings with black octagons, including Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Venezuela and Uruguay.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), these nutrition warnings with black octagons effectively reduce the intention to purchase products with excess calories, sugar, sodium and saturated fat, help consumers make healthier choices and contribute to the reformulation of food products.