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Canada adopts front-of-package nutrition warning labels

Food and drink products in Canada must now carry warning labels for high saturated fat, sugar, and sodium content – a move designed to help consumers make more informed purchasing decisions.

All food and beverage products sold in Canada must now feature front-of-package nutrition warning labels in English and French. The country's new packaging policy came into force at the beginning of this year, on 1 January 2026, following a three and a half year transition period after amendments to the country's Food and Drug Regulations in July 2022.

Introduced by the country's federal institution Health Canada, the warning labels require products high in one or more of saturated fat, sugars, or sodium to display a black and white warning symbol front-of-package.

“We're improving food labels,” said Health Canada. The goal of the nutrition warning label is to help consumers make “quick and informed decisions”, the institution said, as well as support health professionals in educating people about foods high in sodium, sugars, and saturated fat.

Certain exemptions apply, including smaller packaged products where it is not technically possible to feature the symbol; foods with a protective effect on health like fruits and vegetables; certain dairy products considered important sources of calcium; raw, single ingredient whole cut and ground meats; and actual butter, sugar, and salt.

Industry transition and enforcement

Kristina Farrell, CEO of Food and Beverage Canada, said that whilst industry widely supports the objective of helping Canadians make informed food choices and recognises the intent behind the front-of-package labelling requirements, the association has been pushing for longer transition times.

“Our members have invested significant time and resources to prepare for compliance with the January 2026 timeline. At the same time, changes to packaging regulations are complex, costly, and require long lead times to implement,” Farrell told Ingredients Network. “A rigid enforcement approach risks forcing manufacturers to discard millions of dollars' worth of usable packaging, creating unnecessary waste and undermining both environmental and economic objectives – particularly for small- and medium-sized businesses.”

Food and Beverage Canada, therefore, has been urging the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) to adopt a “flexible, phased compliance approach throughout 2026”, she said, which would allow manufacturers to work with local inspectors on “reasonable transition plans to exhaust existing packaging inventory”. This collaborative approach, Farrell said, would support regulatory integrity, supply chain stability and responsible resource management whilst maintaining the policy's intent.

The CFIA said there will be “no enforcement discretion” after January 2026, noting it had issued a clear implementation plan back in July 2022. Products imported, manufactured in Canada or packaged at retail before January 2026 could still be sold and remain on store shelves but any products imported, manufactured in Canada or packaged at retail on or after 1 January will be subject to the “standard regulatory response process”.

An expert eye

Food and nutrition expert Marion Nestle, Paulette Goddard professor of nutrition, food studies and public health at New York University, Emerita, said Canada's new nutrition warning label “does the job”.

“It could have been more prominent, but that's nit-picking. With all the attention on ultra-processing these days, warning labels need to consider that too. But that it exists at all in face of what must have been enormous food industry opposition is already terrific,” Nestle said.

In terms of impact, she said it would be interesting to see if the warning label affects sales and whether it induces food companies to reduce the amounts of sugar, salt and saturated fat in their products – impacts seen in Latin American countries where warning labels had already been introduced.