The nutrition facts table is mandatory on most pre-packaged food products. It helps you make informed food choices by, among other things, allowing you to:
easily compare similar products
find out how many nutrients a food contains
identify foods that contain little or a lot of a nutrient
choose foods suitable for special diets, such as a diabetes control diet
The nutrition facts table provides information on the food for a given serving size. This serving size is used as a reference for nutrition labelling purposes. It is not intended to indicate the amount of food you should consume.
The nutrition facts table indicates for a given portion of food:
the number of calories
the quantity of its main nutrients expressed in grams (g), milligrams (mg) or micrograms (µg)
the percentage of daily value
The actual amount of nutrients consumed depends on the portion you eat.
The percentage of daily value
The percentage of daily value indicates how much of your needs are met by the portion of food indicated on the label. It allows you to identify whether a food includes a small or large amount of a nutrient:
5% or less: the food contains little of that nutrient
15% or more: the food includes a lot of that nutrient
By comparing the daily value percentages of food products of similar portion sizes, you can choose the most nutritious. For example, a food’s nutrition facts table can tell you about its content of certain nutrients you may want to limit, such as:
salt (sodium)
sugars
saturated fats
Visit the Healthy eating page to find out more about adopting healthy eating habits.
List of ingredients
The list of ingredients is required on most prepackaged products that includes more than one ingredient. It indicates all the ingredients contained in a packaged food, in descending order of weight. The ingredient present in greatest quantity is thus placed at the beginning of the list, and the ingredient in lesser quantity is at the end.
All sugar-based ingredients added to prepackaged foods are now grouped together under the heading Sugars in the list of ingredients. Next to it, in brackets, these ingredients (e.g. brown sugar, sugar, raspberry juice concentrate) are listed in descending order of weight. The list of ingredients is therefore the part of the label that can help you determine whether sugars have been added to the food, and in what quantities, in relation to the other ingredients.
Allergen labelling requirements
Priority allergens, gluten sources and sulfites must be indicated in one of two ways:
in the list of ingredients, when required
after the word “Contains”, which must immediately follow the ingredient list
Front-of-package nutrition symbol
Pre-packaged foods high in one or more of these nutrients must now bear a nutritionsymbol on the front of the packaging:
salt (sodium)
sugars
saturated fats
The nutrition symbol is shown in black and white, with a magnifying glass. It indicates the nutrient(s) identified as high, with the words “high in”. It can help you quickly and easily identify prepackaged foods high in salt (sodium), sugars and saturated fats. Some foods do not need to display a symbol, for example, fruits and vegetables that do not include added salt (sodium), sugars or saturated fats.
Nutrition claims
A nutrition claim is a message on the label or packaging of a food. Manufacturers generally use two types of messages or claims: those relating to nutrient content and those relating to health.
Nutrient content claims are used to describe the nutritional value or benefit of a food (for example, “Good source of iron”).
Health claimsare used to describe the health benefits of a food or certain types of food (for example, “A healthy diet with a wide variety of fruits and vegetables may help reduce the risk of certain types of cancer”).
Claims on food labels are optional. They are, however, subject to certain Health Canada rules to make sure messages are consistent and clear. Claims must be truthful (true) and not misleading (they should not deceive consumers). For example, “low-fat” on a carrot package would be misleading, since it implies that some carrots are high in fat.
Other claims have appeared in recent years on supermarket food packaging and price labels. These claims are not developed by the government and can be misleading. They take the form of symbols, logos or statements such as “Good for your health” or “Healthy choice”. It is important to check nutritional information such as the Nutrition nutrition Facts facts table and the list of ingredients to make informed food choices.
Claims and certifications
There are other categories of claims, such as reserved designations and value-adding terms (in French only), which are protected by the gouvernement du Québec.
“Organic” is the best-known reserved designation. To use it, an authorized independent certifying body must attest that the food meets standards. The Conseil des appellations réservées et des termes valorisants is responsible for accrediting certification bodies and making sure that products are authentic.
Some claims are guided by certification bodies. These organizations require manufacturers to comply with certain pre-established criteria before they can affix their logo to a package or label, for example, Aliments du Québec (in French only).
Fortified foods are prepackaged foods or beverages that include one or more specific added ingredients (supplemental ingredients) such as:
vitamins
minerals
amino acids
other ingredients, such as caffeine
Examples include energy drinks and bars with added vitamins and minerals.
New regulations require supplemented foods to carry specific labels. Among other things, they must display a table of information on supplemented foods called the “Supplemented Food Facts”. This is similar to the nutrition facts table, with the addition of a section on supplemental ingredients.
Because of the type or quantity of supplemental ingredients they contain, some supplemented foods may show a health risk if they are consumed in excess, or if they are consumed by:
pregnant people
nursing people
people sensitive to caffeine
children
To this end, certain supplemented foods must bear a caution box on the front of their packaging, identifiable by an exclamation mark. This symbol indicates the presence of a more detailed warning panel on the back of the packaging. Warnings are indicated by the word “Caution”. They can help you determine whether or not the food is suitable for you.
Non-compliant label
To make sure that any information on a food label or packaging is true, you can contact the manufacturer. Manufacturers must be able to provide tangible, verifiable proof of the markings they affix to their products.
To check whether a logo comes from a certification company, you can do an Internet search or contact the certification body.
You can file a complaint if you think a label is misleading or untrue, or if you have any concerns about the health or safety of a food sold in Québec related to the labelling, for example, an undeclared allergen or best-before date.
Report a non-compliant label
If you think a label is unsafe, untruthful or misleading, you can file a complaint. It’s confidential.
If you have any doubts about the authenticity of a certified product, or about the use of a reserved designation or value-adding term, you can file a complaint with the responsible organization.