CRESTON, B.C. – Eye-catching labels are a must when new food processing businesses develop their marketing plans, but those labels are about to become more cluttered.
Federal regulations that are coming into effect Dec. 12 will require more detailed information, including a nutrient list, product description and the address of the producer.
“Consumers say they want more information on food labels,” Ron Dombowsky of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said during a meeting for small scale food processors in Creston, where more farmers are considering entering the value added game.
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Processors with annual sales of less than $1 million are exempt from the regulation until Dec. 12, 2007, but some retailers have said they want the labels this year, which means processors will have to comply with store requests to keep their products on the shelves.
A label is required any time a food product is offered for sale. It must include the common name of the product and quantity in metric measures, although imperial volume is allowed.
A common name of the product such as orange juice from concentrate, vanilla cookies or strawberry jam is sufficient.
The common name must appear on the principal display panel of the food label in French and English with a minimum type height of 1.6 millimetres. If a product is sold within a local region, it may not require a bilingual label.
The best-before date should include the year, month and day. For example, a product date would read: 2005 DE 25.
“It is not illegal to sell after the best before date because it is often more of a quality issue,” Dombowsky said, although he suggested reducing the price on items past their sell-by date.
A nutrition panel is also required, which lists the ingredients, 13 basic nutrients and information such as calorie content, fats and additives. Ingredients are listed in order of weight from largest to smallest quantity.
Recipes are not required. For example, beef jerky does not have to list actual spices so that a recipe can be protected, but if the spices are being sold alone, they need to be declared.
Few nutrient claims are allowed.
Low carbohydrate claims are not allowed because Health Canada does not view them as health claims.
Sodium and aspartame content must be declared. Peanut oil, hydrogenated peanut oil and modified peanut oil must be declared. The servings per container should be listed as well as a calorie declaration.
The label may include trans fat levels or may say zero percent if fats are not present. Many new foods specify what kind of vegetable oil is present, such as safflower, canola or palm oil.
Products may be sent to a laboratory for a nutrient analysis and any possible health claims.
The CFIA may review labels but doesn’t approve them.
