New food labels to reveal nutritional content
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* Barbara Sibbald

The nutrition labels that Health Canada has proposed for nearly all packaged foods mark a “major breakthrough,” the Alliance for Food Label Reform says.

The 16-member alliance has been fighting for better labelling for more than 3 years. Use of the new, highly informative labels will likely become federal policy in 2001; manufacturers will then have 2 years to comply. The alliance is led by the Centre for Science in the Public Interest (Canada), a nonprofit consumer health organization. 

“Only 50% to 60% of foods have any nutritional information,” says CSPI spokesperson Bill Jeffery. Health Canada says that current nutrition labelling is fully voluntary, looks different on different foods, and “when it is present, it usually gives information on only a few nutrients.” 

The proposed labels will help parents be more aware of nutritional content, says Jeffery. “It will be great to see the total sugar and calories listed on soft drinks. That will make people think twice.” Health Canada estimates that costs related to unhealthy eating total more than $6.3 billion per year.

The proposed “Nutrition Facts” box will provide information on calories and the 13 nutrients considered most important to health: fat, saturated fat, transfat, cholesterol, sodium, carbohydrate, fibre, sugars, protein, vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium and iron.

Special rules apply to small packages, and exemptions will be given to small manufacturers. Jeffery says the key exemption involves foods packaged at the retail level, including meat, fish and baked goods: “It's a needless concession that has the potential to compromise the quality of the labelling effort.” — 

![Figure1](http://www.cmaj.ca/https://www.cmaj.ca/content/cmaj/163/11/1490.1/F1.medium.gif)

[Figure1](http://www.cmaj.ca/content/163/11/1490.1/F1)

Figure. New label was long time in the making