More Information and Tips

The Nutrition Label

How will the regulations be enforced?

The regulations will be enforced by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA).

Nutrition Facts Table

Not all food packages have a Nutrition Facts table.

While almost all prepackaged foods are required to have a Nutrition Facts table, the following are examples of some foods that are exempt from nutrition labelling requirements:

• Fresh fruit and vegetables
  
  
• Raw meat and poultry (except when ground), raw fish and seafood
  
  
• Foods prepared or processed at the store (bakery items, salads)
  
  
• Foods that contain very few nutrients such as coffee, tea, herbs and spices
  
  
• Alcoholic beverages

Specific Amount of Food

Comparing cookies

Always look at the amount of food indicated in the Nutrition Facts table and compare it to the amount you actually eat.

In this example, for the same amount of weight as specified in the Nutrition Facts table (e.g., 30 g), the number of cookies is different.

Comparing One-portion Packages (e.g., yogourt)

For packages that are consumed as one portion (e.g., small containers of yogourt, individual-size packs of peanuts, juice-boxes), the nutrient information in the Nutrition Facts table applies to the whole package so that it is easier for people to know the amount of Calories and nutrients they are consuming.

Prepackaged Cake Mix

Some foods, such as prepackaged cake mixes, have different methods of preparation. For example, there may be a recipe for reducing the fat content, which in turn alters the nutrient information.

For these products, the Nutrition Facts table may have more than one column that provides different nutritional information depending on the way the product is prepared.

This cake mix package lists two different ways of making a cake. This is found in the Nutrition Facts table.

The quantity of Calories and nutrients you consume depends on how much cake you eat and the method of preparation.

% Daily Value

What is the Daily Value based on?

The Daily Values developed for nutrition labelling are generally based on recommendations for a healthy diet.

Daily Values are based on standards established for health outcomes, healthy growth and development and reduced risk of nutrition-related chronic disease. They therefore apply to most people.

In addition to listing the % Daily Value, the Nutrition Facts table also lists the actual amounts of some nutrients in grams or milligrams. People with specific dietary needs may need to use these values.

The % Daily Value is best used as a comparative benchmark when deciding between two food products.

How is the % Daily Value derived?

To calculate the % Daily Value, the actual amount of a nutrient (in the amount of food specified in the Nutrition Facts table) is divided by the nutrient's Daily Value and multiplied by 100.

Example for Iron:

The Daily Value for iron is 14 mg.

2 mg (amount of iron in a specific amount of food) /14 mg (Daily Value for iron) X 100 = 15%

Therefore, a product with 2 mg of iron, in the amount of food specified in the Nutrition Facts table, would have a % Daily Value of 15%.

How do you use the % Daily Value?

The % Daily Value helps you interpret the amount of each nutrient by putting them all on the same scale (0 - 100% Daily Value).

You can use the % Daily Value to see whether the nutrients you are trying to increase (e.g., fibre, vitamins A and C, calcium, iron) have high percentages in a food product.

For example, if you want to increase your fibre intake, when choosing between two breakfast cereals, select the cereal with the highest % Daily Value for fibre per comparable amount of cereal.

Manufacturers may highlight that a food product:

• with a 15% Daily Value or more per specific amount is a high source of calcium, vitamin A, iron or fibre.
• with a 30% Daily Value or more per specific amount is a high source of vitamin C.

You can also use the % Daily Value to see whether the nutrients you are trying to decrease (e.g., saturated and trans fats, cholesterol, sodium) have low percentages in a food product.

For example, if you want to decrease your intake of sodium, when choosing between two canned soups, select the soup with the lowest % Daily Value for sodium per comparable amount of soup.

Manufacturers may highlight that a food product:

• with a 5% Daily Value or less per specific amount is low in fat, sodium or cholesterol.
• with a 10% Daily Value or less per specific amount is low in saturated and trans fats.

Core Nutrients

What about other nutrients?

• The core nutrients must be listed in the Nutrition Facts table, along with any other nutrients related to any nutrition claims on the package or any nutrients that have been added to the product.
  
  
• It is not mandatory that the Nutrition Facts table include each and every nutrient present in the food, only the 13 core nutrients and Calories need to be included. The absence of a "non-core" nutrient in the Nutrition Facts does not mean that the nutrient is not in the food.
  
  
• Manufacturers may include in the Nutrition Facts other nutrients from a defined list (such as other vitamins, minerals, types of fat, sugar alcohols and starch). Information on any other food constituents may appear outside the Nutrition Facts table (e.g., phytochemicals such as isoflavone or carotenoids such as lycopene).

Tips to reduce saturated and trans fats

• Read the Nutrition Facts table to see the levels of saturated and trans fats.
• Choose vegetable oils such as canola, olive, corn, safflower, soybean, sunflower and peanut more often.
• Limit your use of hard margarine, shortening, lard and butter.
• Limit your consumption of products containing high amounts of palm, coconut oil or hydrogenated vegetable oils.
• Choose lower fat dairy products and leaner meats.

Nutrition Claims

How do you use Nutrient Content Claims?

When you want to decrease the amount of certain nutrients, look for the following types of claims:

When you want to increase the amount of certain nutrients, look for the following types of claims:

More Examples of Nutrition Claims

Source of omega-3 poly-unsaturated fatty acids
Low in saturated fat
Free of trans fatty acids
Cholesterol-free

• Nutrition claims are optional. It is up to manufacturers to see if their product meets the criteria for a claim, and then to put the claim on the food label.
• Many products will have nutrition claims as these claims highlight a feature of interest to consumers.
• Use nutrition claims as a starting point but do not rely only on them to make comparisons. Use the Nutrition Facts to get the full details.

Why are there claims on some products and not on other, similar products?

There are nutrition claims on some products but not on others because nutrition claims are optional. Manufacturers can choose whether or not to put a nutrition claim on their product if it meets the criteria set out in the regulations.

What are Health Claims?

Health claims are a type of nutrition claim. Health claims about the following diet/health relationships are permitted:

• a healthy diet low in saturated and trans fats may reduce the risk of heart disease;
• a healthy diet with adequate calcium and vitamin D, and regular physical activity, help to achieve strong bones and may reduce the risk of osteoporosis;
• a healthy diet rich in vegetables and fruit may help reduce the risk of some types of cancer; and
• a healthy diet containing foods high in potassium and low in sodium may reduce the risk of high blood pressure, a risk factor for stroke and heart disease.

List of Ingredients

Sugars in food

The list of ingredients helps to identify sources of certain nutrients such as sugars. The Nutrition Facts table gives the content of sugars from all sources (naturally occurring sugars and added sugars, if any). To find out if sugars have been added, you need to look at the ingredient list. Examples of sugars include: corn syrup, dextrose, fructose, glucose, malt syrup, invert sugar and concentrated fruit juice.

Cat.: H44-89/2005E-PDF
ISBN: 0-662-41483-7

Cat.: H44-89/2005E-HTML
ISBN: 0-662-41484-5