16 May Food Labelling Changes in Canada
THE TIMES THEY ARE A… CH-CH-CH-CH-CHANGING
Food labelling changes in Canada will be in effect before you know it. And while I’m quite certain neither Bob Dylan nor David Bowie had food labels in mind when writing their song lyrics, change in all its forms is an inevitable event. As a graphic design agency with 35+ years experience in food labelling we are very sensitive to announcements from Health Canada concerning food labelling.
WHAT ARE THE RECENT AMENDMENTS ABOUT?
Remember our blog post “Preparing For The Artificial Trans Fats Ban“? It was a little tap on the shoulder about foods containing PHOs (Partially Hydrogenated Oils), aka artificial trans fats. If any of the foods in your product line contain artificial trans fats, you will need to analyze and adjust your formula and have your labels reflect the revised ingredients and nutritional information. And you have until September 15th of 2018 after which time it will become illegal in Canada to sell anything containing PHOs.
But continue to keep in mind other food labelling changes. Did you also know that on Friday (May 11) the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) announced that they have updated their Industry Labelling Tool (ILT) to reflect the December 14, 2016 amendments to the “Food and Drug Regulations” (FDR)?
The latest FDR amendments concern:
- Nutrition Labelling
- List of Ingredients
- Food Colour Requirements.
DEADLINES FOR FOOD LABELLING CHANGES
By way of background, we made some recommendations in our Repack Canada blog post titled “How To Be Ready For The Canadian Food Label Amendments“. For more details about the Food Label Amendments, please read the blog post and catch up on some Q&A on the CFIA web site.**
But what we want to remind you specifically about the announcement from the CFIA is as follows:
On December 14, 2016, amendments to nutrition labelling, list of ingredients and food colour requirements of the Food and Drug Regulations came into force. Regulated parties have a five (5) year transition period to meet the new labelling requirements, during which they must comply with either the former or the new requirements. As of December 14, 2021, all prepackaged food products being manufactured or imported must comply with the new labelling requirements…”*
So make a big bold note in your calendar concerning DECEMBER 14, 2021 to ensure your product lines on shelf will meet all the new regulations by then.
What is also noteworthy is that the CFIA has alerted the industry about a proposal that the transition period be extended to December 14, 2022, but that a further update was forthcoming.
ARE YOU ON SCHEDULE?
How are your label revisions coming? Will your Nutrition Fact Tables, List of Ingredients and Food Colour Requirements be ready to meet the December 14, 2021 deadline?
Or are there other areas of your business you could be focussing on? Outsourcing label revisions to a packaging design agency like The Freelance Portfolio could save you a ton of time and money. We have over 35 years experience in food package design to give you efficient, on-budget results.
ALTERNATIVE SOLUTIONS
Keep in mind that sometimes overlabelling with corrected information is a feasible alternative, potentially a faster and cheaper option. And guess what? We can do that too through our contract packaging facility, Repack Canada.
FREE QUOTES
Our Quotes are FREE to serious inquiries, so send us your food labelling request now for:
Food label new design
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