RCC’s involvement in Health Canada’s new front-of-package nutrition symbol

Final regulations for Front-of-Package Nutrition Labelling were released last week, along with draft Guidance materials for industry. The regulations and Guidance provide details on when and how the new Nutrition Symbol will need to be displayed on the front of pre-packaged foods that are above certain limits of saturated fat, sugars and/or sodium. A summary of the regulations, as well as links to the Guidance and technical documents are available on Health Canada’s website.

RCC was an active participant in consultations on the regulations, and was responsible for the development of the magnifying glass symbol which will be used, encouraging consumers to refer to the Nutrition Facts Table for more information, rather than the more alarmist symbols which had been proposed.

Health Canada will be holding a webinar for industry to answer questions on the new regulations this Fall and will be updating the Guidance documents following this meeting. RCC is working with members and other industry stakeholders on implementation of the new requirements, including the enforcement approach, required updates to the Guidance, and requirements for retail scale labels.