Health Canada Bares New Labeling Standard for Supplemented Food

Health Canada has published new labeling standards for supplemented foods and introduced new nutrition labeling regulations for packaged foods requiring a front-of-pack symbol declaring if a food is high in saturated fat, sugar or sodium, reports the FoodNavigator-USA on August 04.  Supplemented foods are prepackaged foods with added supplemental ingredients such as vitamins, minerals, amino acids or other ingredients (for example caffeine). 
All new supplemented foods will need to immediately comply with the regulations, which stipulates that added ingredients must be on a ‘list of permitted supplemental ingredients,’ while products must be on a ‘list of permitted supplemental food categories’ (which includes alcoholic drinks, infant food, and some other special categories), the report said, otherwise manufacturers can petition Health Canada to amend the lists.  The new regulations requires supplemented foods to have a standardized Supplemental Food Facts table providing information on the amount of added ingredients, direction for use, condition for use, and relevant cautionary statements like ‘Not recommended for those under 14 years oil...’.
Separately, a new front-of-package nutrition labeling symbol, with effect in January 2027, will be required on foods high in sodium, sugar, or saturated fat.  A food is determined to be high in salt, sugar, and/or saturated fat if it meets or exceeds the following thresholds:  10% DV for small servings (≤30g/mL); 15% DV for general servings (>30g/mL); 30% DV for main dish servings (≥ 200g/mL); and 30% DV for main dishes marketed to children ages 1-4 (≥170g/mL).