Making sense of Health Canada’s food labelling regulations

On June 30, Health Canada announced new nutrition labeling regulations which will require prepackaged foods that are high in saturated fat, sugar, and/or sodium to display a symbol on the front of the package that highlights this information.

Research from other countries has found that such easy-to-understand front labels can guide consumers to healthier food choices.

The “high content” symbol on the front of the package will complement the Nutrition Facts table on the back of the package, which has been required since 2007. Food manufacturers have until January 1, 2026 to comply with the new regulations.

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In the meantime, the following tips can help you understand the Nutrition Facts table and apply that information to your personal diet.

(Note: In December 2016, Health Canada announced improvements to the Nutritional Information table and list of ingredients, some of which I mention below. While these updates won’t be fully effective until December 2023, many food companies have already applied them to product labels.)

Check the serving size

To find out how much protein, fiber, sugar, or sodium, for example, you’re getting, look at the serving size and compare that amount to the amount you actually eat.

The serving sizes in the updated Nutrition Facts table better reflect the amount of food typically eaten in a single sitting. They’re also more consistent across products, making it easier to compare similar foods for calories and nutrients.

Understanding Sugar Numbers

The amount of sugars (grams) in the Nutrition Facts table groups free sugars and naturally occurring sugars (eg, lactose in milk and fructose in fruit). In doing so, the sugar information doesn’t tell you how much the food industry added.

However, you can assume that for a product that does not contain dairy or nuts, the amount of sugars listed will be free sugars. For perspective, four grams of sugar equals one teaspoon.

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Typically, a single 100-g serving of vanilla or fruit-flavored yogurt contains 11 to 12 g of total sugars. About 8 g are free sugars and the rest is natural lactose. For plain yogurt, all sugar listed is natural sugar.

Free sugars are added sugars as well as sugars naturally present in fruit juices and fruit juice concentrates. Once removed from the whole fruit, these sugars are “free” to be added to foods to sweeten them.

Use Percent Daily Value (DV)

The DV percentages, on the right side of the Nutrition Facts table, are helpful in getting an idea of ​​how much of a nutrient is in a serving of the product.

Five percent or less of the DV is considered low and 15 percent or more is considered high.

A low DV percentage is good for nutrients you want to limit (eg, sodium, sugars). For nutrients you may want to get more of (eg, fiber, potassium, calcium), look for higher DV percentages.

Daily Values ​​are based on Recommended Daily Intakes, which are age- and gender-specific daily nutrient requirements. For saturated fats, trans fats and sodiumconsider these DVs as upper limits of intake.

The DV for total sugars has been set at 100 g, an amount consistent with a healthy diet in which the majority of total sugars come from fruits, vegetables, and unsweetened dairy products.

Read the ingredient list

Ingredients are listed in descending order by weight. The first or heaviest ingredient is what contains most of the product.

The ingredient list has been updated so that all sugar-free ingredients are grouped under the common name “sugars.” The placement of sugars in the ingredient list will depend on the total weight of the combined sugar ingredients.

The list of ingredients gives a general idea of ​​the nutritional quality of a product. Ideally, choose products that list whole foods as the first three ingredients.

Don’t be fooled by ingredients that sound healthier than they are, such as wheat flour (refined white flour), fruit juice concentrate (a free sugar) and brown rice syrup (a free sugar).

Think big

the The Nutrition Facts box and ingredient list provide useful information to help you make healthier food choices, but don’t get too bogged down with certain numbers or percentages.

Also consider the overall nutritional quality of food products, especially those that are part of your regular diet.

Just because a product has fewer calories or carbohydratesfor example, it does not mean that it is a good source of beneficial nutrients or that it does not contain unwanted ingredients.

Leslie Beck, a Toronto-based private practice dietitian, is director of food and nutrition at Medcan. Follow her on Twitter @LeslieBeckRD

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