YOUR FUTURE IN FOOD

Food Labelling
Requirements
Product packaging and labelling go hand in hand – both require research, planning and consultation from
a variety of sources. The design of your label must be integrated with your package. Your label is the
place to tell your story and provide information that will help sell your product.
This factsheet will outline the information that is required by law on the label. The graphic design and
branding of your product are important aspects to consider for marketing purposes. Working with a
graphic designer with experience in labelling requirements is essential when developing a label.

How do food service and retail Retail food products are:

products differ? ■ any pre-packaged foods sold in a retail
outlet or storefront where the product
Food service products are: is being sold directly to the end user.
These outlets include grocery stores,
■ foods for commercial or industrial
local boutiques, convenience stores or
enterprises or institutions (e.g., multi-serving,
gas stations, on-line sales and some
ready-to-serve), intended to be served solely
farm gate sales.
in a commercial or industrial enterprise or
institution, such as a restaurant, hospital or
cafeteria. Getting started with the technical
■ foods used as ingredients in manufacturing and regulatory requirements of
other foods. They are also pre-packaged food labelling
products intended solely for use as
ingredients in the preparation of food by All food products require basic food labelling,
a commercial or industrial enterprise or whether for retail or food service. This includes:
institution.
■ common name
■ bilingual labelling*
■ net quantity
■ name and address
■ ingredient list and allergens
■ durable life date*
■ special storage conditions
■ nutrition information*

*There are some exemptions. Go to:

www.inspection.gc.ca
The food service shipping label also has Have you designed a label that will meet
requirements. All shipping labels must contain the:
■ common name
the regulations for layout?
■ list of ingredients and allergen labelling In general, the Nutrition Facts Table (NFT) must be
displayed on the available display surface (ADS).
■ identity and principal place of business There are label specifications that depend on the
■ net quantity package size and shape you choose. The ADS
■ nutrition labelling will dictate the proper layout, which is usually
determined by a calculation of the total surface area,
■ other mandatory information, as required for the and will vary depending on whether you are using
product (e.g., labelling of irradiated foods or a an ornamental container, a hang tag or a typical
previously frozen declaration) package, like a cereal box.
It is important that the ADS calculation is accurate,
Are you aware of standards of identity? because the choice of a NFT format and its size are
A standard of identity sets out what ingredients based, in part, on the ADS of the package.
a product must contain and any requirements of
manufacturing. Certain food products have a ADS does NOT include:
standard of identity and are required by federal law ■ the area of a package on which a label cannot
to follow specific regulations for a variety of products. be physically applied or on which information
Be familiar with the standard regulations, if cannot be legibly set out and easily viewed.
applicable, for your product. Standard of identity ■ any part of a package that is intended to
could affect the product’s common name, the be destroyed when it is opened, other than
ingredient listing, font size and packaging sizes a package of a food that is intended to be
used, among other requirements. consumed as a single serving.
Visit the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) ■ the area occupied by the universal product
for requirements of each food product type: code (UPC).
www.inspection.gc.ca The principal display surface is the area of the label
CFIA has more details on the standard of identity that is displayed or visible under normal or customary
for the Food and Drug Regulations, the Meat conditions of sale. This is taken into consideration in
Inspection Regulations, the Fish Inspection Regulations label design.
and regulations under the Canada Agricultural
Products Act.
Being aware of the layout requirements and having
your label reviewed by a knowledgeable service
provider, like the Food Development Centre in
Portage la Prairie, can help ensure you are meeting
the stated requirements.
For more information on legibility and location of
labelling, go to: www.inspection.gc.ca

Have you designed a label that will meet

the regulations for making a claim?
When you make a claim on your label, it must
be truthful and not misleading. All statements
must be qualified.
Be sure to follow the guidelines to help identify claims
made about Canadian content in foods.
Here is a video on how to identify Canadian food:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vBD9VqKyBQ.
Your food product will need to meet certain
specifications to make any of these claims:
organic
Have you designed a label that meets
■

product of Canada
the regulations for the prescribed
■

■ made in Canada
nutritional information?
■ Canada branding
The Food and Drug Regulations specifically indicate
■ composition and quality
where and how nutrition information must be
Vegetarian and Clean Label Claims are not displayed on each pre-packaged food, whether on
regulated. a NFT applied to the container or by some other
permitted mechanism.
Information on making food product claims
Nutrition Facts table
A suite of tools including graphics, images and
messaging that can help you brand your products To ensure legibility, the graphic and technical
and leverage consumers’ positive perceptions of requirements of the NFT are highly prescriptive.
Canada is available online. Go to:
Go to: www.inspection.gc.ca to see graphic and
www.marquecanadabrand.agr.gc.ca/intro/
technical requirements within the NFT.
join-joignez-eng.htm
Making fresh claims - go to: www.inspection.gc.ca. Nutrition Facts Table exemptions
Method of production claims - go to: There are exemptions for the requirement of a NFT
www.inspection.gc.ca. on certain food products:
■ spices and some bottled waters, where all the
nutritional information may be expressed as
Have you designed a label that allows zero
for inclusion of Universal Product Codes? ■ beverages with an alcohol content greater than
Many retailers and distributors require 12-digit, 0.5 per cent
scanner-readable Universal Product Codes (UPC) ■ fresh vegetables, fruits and herbs
for pricing and inventory controls. To have a code
issued, see www.gs1.org/standards.
■ raw, single ingredient meat, meat by-product,
poultry meat, and poultry meat by-product
■ raw, single ingredient marine or freshwater ■ pre-packaged confections or one-bite
animal products (such as fish or crustaceans) confections sold individually (e.g., small
individual wrapped candies or mints)
■ foods sold only in the retail establishment
where the product is prepared and processed, ■ pre-packaged individual portions of food,
including products made from a pre-mix when solely intended to be served by a restaurant
an ingredient other than water is added to the or other commercial enterprise with meals or
pre-mix. Although there are no requirements to snacks (e.g., crackers or creamers)
provide a NFT for most restaurant and food ■ cow and goat milk products sold in refillable
service foods, many establishments wish to
glass containers
provide this information on a voluntary basis.
The format requirements for prepackaged Food products listed as exempt to the NFT will not
foods do not apply to restaurant foods, so an be exempt if:
alternate way of presenting the information
is acceptable, such as the use of a table or ■ vitamin or mineral nutrients are added to the
chart, tray liners, menu boards, posters, leaflets food product.
or brochures. Note that when showing how ■ sweeteners are added to the product, such as:
much of a nutrient is present in a food, you aspartame, sucralose or acesulfame-potassium.
must show how much of the nutrient is present
per serving of stated size. In most cases for ■ the products are ground meat, meat by-
restaurant foods, this means the information products, poultry meat or poultry meat by-
must be shown per portion served to the products.
consumer. ■ claims are made about nutrient content.
■ foods sold only at a road-side stand, craft ■ claims are made about nutrient function in the
show, flea market, fair or farmers’ market by product.
the individual who prepared and processed
the product ■ claims are made about reducing the risk of
disease.
■ individual servings of foods sold for immediate
consumption (e.g., sandwiches or ready-made ■ the product has a health-related name,
salad food) statement, logo, symbol, seal of approval or
other proprietary mark of a third party.
■ sold only in the retail establishment where the
product is packaged, if the product is labelled
by means of a sticker and has an available
display surface of less than 200 cm2
Help with creating your Nutrition Facts table
The Food Development Centre in Portage la Prairie can assist in
creating your NFT and reviewing your label to ensure it meets the
requirements set out by the CFIA.

To get started on nutritional labelling, you will need to give

the service provider:

■ Finalized ingredients and quantity of each recipe

(weight-based recipe – not volume)
■ Detailed ingredient description (product name, brand
name and supplier)
■ Nutritional analysis of commercial ingredients,
preferably based on 100 g
■ Processing yields (e.g., moisture loss)
■ Serving size (e.g., one slice (50 g))

CFIA food labelling tool

The CFIA food labelling tool will help you navigate important
labelling requirements and considerations. It can be found at
www.inspection.gc.ca.
Packaging and labelling your products properly is a requirement.
By following these regulations, you are presenting product
information as clearly as possible, so your customers can read
and understand what they are buying.

Make Manitoba Agriculture your first point of contact for help as

you build your future in food. Business development specialists can
offer consulting and pathfinding services, workshops, training and
market development activities that will help you manage and grow
your business.
Call us today at 204-239-3362 or 1-800-870-1044
(toll-free in Canada).

For more information

• Go to
manitoba.ca/agriculture and
click on Food and
Ag Processing
• Email us at
[email protected]

• Visit your local Manitoba

Agriculture Office

Available in alternate formats upon request.