Food Labels Made Easy

From the May 18, 2009 Issue of Agri-News

.
"At the recent Step It Up conference, Bill Zurawell with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency shed some light on the food labelling issue for farm direct marketers," says Eileen Kotowich, farmers' market specialist with Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development, Vermilion. "He discussed some of the main misconceptions surrounding labelling."

Four of the most common misconceptions about labelling are:

Products sold at farmers' markets are exempt from labelling requirements - no products are exempt from federal labelling requirements. All vendors must label food products as described in the Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act and the Food and Drug Act Food Regulation.

Having an ingredient list available is acceptable - some public health inspectors tell market managers and vendors that having an ingredient list at the vendor's table is acceptable. From the public health perspective that may be a requirement, however, the Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act is federal legislation and supersedes the jurisdiction of the local public health inspector. Labels which include a complete ingredient listing must be attached to each food product sold. The ingredients must be listed in descending order of proportion.

Other information that must appear on a food label includes:

common name
net quantity
dealer identity and principal place of business
list of ingredients in descending order of proportion
durable life date if product has shelf life of 90 days or less
allergen labelling
nutrition labelling - unless exempt
bilingual labelling - unless exempt

Before creating a food label, refer to the 2003 Guide to Food Labelling and Advertising which can be viewed online at www.inspection.gc.ca/english/fssa/labeti/guide/toce.shtml

The specific chapters that producers and vendors should refer to are:

Chapter 2: Basic Labelling Requirements
Chapter 4: Composition, Quality, Quantity, and Origin Claims and in particular, Section 4.19: Product of Canada, Made in Canada
Chapter 5: Nutrition Labelling
Chapter 7: Nutrient Content Claims
Chapter 8: Diet-Related Health Claims

Products sold at farmers' markets or farm direct are exempt from nutrition labelling - foods sold only at a roadside stand, craft show, flea market, fair, farmers' market or sugar bush by the individual who prepared and processed the product are exempt from nutrition labelling.

The exemption does not apply and a Nutrition Facts table is required when:

a vitamin or mineral nutrient is added to the product or is declared as a component of an ingredient
labels or advertisements carry a nutritional reference or nutrient content claim, a biological role claim, a health claim, or the phrase "nutrition facts"
the product is ground meat, ground meat by-product, ground poultry meat or ground poultry meat by-product

Vendors can make verbal statements about the health benefits of their product - unless the vendor has the research to back it up, making health statements or claims should be avoided.

A verbal statement is treated the same as a written statement. If a vendor does not have the science to back up the claim or the permission to make the claim, they should not make either verbal or written health claims about a product.

"Labels do not have to be professionally created or cost a lot of money," says Kotowich. "They can be done on a home computer, but they must contain all the required information. It is each vendor's responsibility to ensure full compliance with the legislation."

The Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act is enforced by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. Any questions regarding labelling should be directed to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency's Fair Labelling Practices Program, 780-495-7023 in Edmonton.

Contact:
Eileen Kotowich
780-853-8223


	The contents of this page are no longer available.

	Agri-News RSS Feed For more information about the content of this document, contact Eileen Kotowich. This document is maintained by Rita Splawinski. This information published to the web on May 13, 2009.