Normativa otros países
Jul. 9, 2019
Canadá propone amplia actualización de etiquetado en alimentos (en inglés)
On June 22, 2019, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency published proposed new requirements for food labeling; interested stakeholders have until September 4 to comment.The proposed changes cover a number of labeling elements, including country of origin designations on consumer packaged goods.
According to the regulatory impact analysis statement, some of the proposed changes to the Food and Drugs Regulations would include:
Date marking and storage instructions
Proposed amendments would update Canada’s use of the terms “expiration date” and “best before date,” and would apply to all labels of prepackaged foods, subject to certain exceptions.
Food company information
Proposed amendments would require manufacturer contact information be included on the label.
Foreign state of origin of imported food
Proposed changes would require the country of origin to be declared on all “wholly imported foods” (i.e., foods that are not transformed in Canada).
Legibility and location of information
Proposed amendments would improve the legibility of mandatory labeling information on labels and require certain labeling information (e.g., country of origin) appear in a consistent location on all prepackaged food labels.
Emphasized ingredients
Proposed amendments would labels to declare the percentage of an emphasized ingredient on the product label, though there would be exceptions when emphasized ingredients appear in a common name that has a prescribed compositional standard (e.g., raisin bread). Under the proposed amendments, when an emphasized ingredient is referred to on a label but the emphasized ingredient is not added at all or is only an added flavor, then the label would have to clearly indicate that the food is “flavored.” CFIA gives an example of “strawberry” ice cream that contains strawberry flavor rather than real strawberries, which would have to be called “strawberry flavored ice cream.”
Standard container sizes
The regulatory proposal would repeal certain requirements for standard container sizes from the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations and incorporate by reference the remaining list of sizes. The repealed container sizes would be based on those identified in the last round of consultation since 2017. Examples of food products that would no longer have prescribed container sizes include prepackaged beets, onions, and parsnips.
Incorporation by reference of class names
The regulatory proposal would make it easier to update lists of mandatory and optional class names for ingredients going forward.Definition of test market food The regulatory proposal would introduce a definition for “test market food” into the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations to clarify the intent of an exception for the purpose of test marketing. This definition would limit the application of test marketing exemptions to foods that differ substantially (e.g., in composition, function, packaging) from others sold in Canada and that were not sold previously in Canada in that form.
Streamlining commodity-specific labeling
This regulatory proposal would maintain food commodity-specific labeling requirements necessary for health and safety reasons, but streamline remaining requirements by either repealing requirements or introducing a single horizontal requirement to replace multiple commodity-specific ones.
Source: CFIA
July 2019