Labelling
Nutrition labels for maple products that comply with the CFIA's Food and Drug Regulations.
New labelling regulations
Since December 2005, maple producers, processors, importers and retailers with over $1 million in revenue must comply with the new nutrition labelling regulations imposed by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). These new regulations went into effect for all maple producers and processors on December 12, 2007.
Required on the label are the calorie content and nutrition facts regarding 13 core nutrients. Any nutritional claims concerning amounts of nutrients offering health benefits are also subject to this regulation. The purpose of this new standard is to provide consumers relevant information so they can make informed, healthy food choices.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is responsible for enforcing these requirements concerning foods included in the Food and Drugs Act.
The FPAQ at your service In light of these new requirements and regulations on food and drugs, the FPAQ commissioned Cintech Agroalimentaire to carry out a large-scale nutritional analysis of 600 samples of maple syrup and several of its derivative products (butter, taffy, hard sugar and granulated sugar). The sampling complied with CFIA and Health Canada analysis criteria. The study was funded by the FPAQ and the Conseil pour le développement de l'agriculture du Québec (CDAQ).
Thanks to this study, maple producers and processors can now offer their customers maple products that display the nutrition information they expect to see. It should be noted, however, that the facts provided by the FPAQ are intended for informational purposes only, and producers and processors remain responsible for the information indicated on their products, as stipulated in the CFIA regulations.
As a result of the Cintech Agroalimentaire analysis, the FPAQ is offering nutrition information compiled from the analysis of the raw data about nutrients detected in maple syrup and its derivative products. The inclusion of additional information on optional nutrients such as potassium, calcium, riboflavin, magnesium and manganese is a plus in these new nutrition labels. The amounts declared for these nutrients in the Nutrition Facts table correspond to the minimum values observed during the analysis of the nutritional makeup of maple products, and complies with the new CFIA regulations.
Nutrition Facts table dimensions
The nutrition labelling requirements oblige that the data be presented in the form of a Nutrition Facts table. A product’s Nutrition Facts template must comply with CFIA standards regarding labelling and available display surface. According to the Food and Drug Regulations, the dimensions of the Nutrition Facts table depend on the total unlabelled surface area of the product’s packaging. You need to know the available display surface of your company’s packaging. The criteria governing the table’s design are very complex. The characters and rules in the Nutrition Facts table must comply with precise standards that vary with the type of template. We strongly recommend you ask a graphic artist specializing in food packaging who is familiar with the CFIA nutrition label rules to place and approve your Nutrition Facts tables on your packaging.
Nutrition labels for maple products
Attached you will find the Nutrition Facts tables developed for maple syrup and the various derivative products analyzed. You can utilize the nutrition data and use the tables as an example of the graphis requirements..
Click here to view Nutrition Facts labels