Canadian food labelling questions, answered

On January 1, 2026. The rules were published on July 20, 2022, with a transition period that ended on December 31, 2025. From January 1, 2026, labels made under the old rules are no longer compliant.

Products imported, manufactured in Canada or packaged at retail before January 1, 2026 can stay in the warehouse and continue to be sold.

Source: Health Canada FOP labelling guide, section 2.1

A prepackaged food needs the symbol when it isn't prohibited or exempt and its saturated fat, sugars or sodium is at or above the threshold for its type:

Amounts are for foods for adults and children 4 years and older (Daily Values 20 g, 100 g and 2,300 mg). Foods intended solely for children 1 to 4 years use lower Daily Values (10 g, 50 g and 1,200 mg), and their main-dish cut-off is 170 g.

Four details people often get wrong:

• Which amount to test. Use the serving size or the reference amount, whichever is greater. Under an interim policy (March 2025), dense ready-to-eat cereals such as granola (43 g or more per 250 mL) are assessed on the 55 g reference amount.
• Sat fat counts alone. For the symbol, only saturated fat is compared with the 20 g Daily Value. Trans fat is not added, unlike the % DV in the Nutrition Facts table.
• Small reference amounts stay at 10%. Beef jerky with a 30 g reference amount and a 45 g serving size is assessed on 45 g, against the 10% threshold.
• Rounding. The regulations set no rounding rules for this check. Health Canada says to apply the rounding rules used for the % DV in the Nutrition Facts table.

A main dish is a combination dish that needs nothing but water to prepare and contains foods from at least two of these groups: dairy (or alternatives), protein foods such as meat, fish, eggs, tofu, legumes and nuts, fruits and vegetables, and grain products such as bread, cereal, rice and pasta.

Source: FDR B.01.350(1)–(4) and table; Table of Daily Values (2022); FOP guide sections 4.2–4.4

Always exempt: shipping containers not sold to consumers as one unit; products with an available display surface under 15 cm² (such as wrapped hard candies or single sticks of gum); restaurant portions served with meals (crackers with soup, coffee creamers); multi-serving products only for food service and institutions; ingredients for other manufacturers or for food service; milk and cream in refillable glass containers; sweeteners sold as such (sugar, honey, maple syrup); salt and seasoning salts; fats and oils, butter and margarine sold as such; military rations. Under an interim policy, fresh single-ingredient coconut is also not required to carry the symbol.

Exempt while the product is also exempt from the Nutrition Facts table: alcoholic beverages over 0.5%; raw single-ingredient meat, poultry, fish and seafood (ground meat and poultry are exempt from the symbol but always need a Nutrition Facts table); products made and sold in the same store; products sold by the person who made them at farmers' markets, roadside stands, fairs, craft shows, flea markets or sugar bushes; single servings for immediate consumption; store-packaged products with a sticker label and an available display surface under 200 cm²; products with an available display surface under 100 cm². These products lose the exemption when they lose their Nutrition Facts table exemption, for example by adding vitamins or making a nutrition claim.

Naturally present nutrients don't count in whole or cut fruits and vegetables (fresh, frozen, canned or dried, but not juices, purées or coconut), milk, whole eggs, and nuts, seeds, vegetable and marine oils and fish with less than 30% of their fat as saturated fat. Adding an ingredient that contains saturated fat, sugars or sodium, other than the foods listed, ends the exemption.

An exempt product may still show the symbol voluntarily, but it must then follow all the presentation rules.

Source: FDR B.01.350(5) to (13.01); FOP guide sections 5.2 and 5.3

Foods solely for infants 6 to 12 months, human milk fortifiers and substitutes (infant formula) and foods represented as containing them, formulated liquid diets, meal replacements, nutritional supplements, foods for protein-restricted or low (amino acid) diets, and foods for very low energy diets.

Source: FDR B.01.350(15); FOP guide section 3.1

On the principal display panel (PDP), the part of the label that faces the shopper:

• PDP height equal to or greater than its width (most boxes, bottles and cans): within the upper half.
• PDP height less than its width (wide trays, flat packs): within the right half.
• The halves are measured by area, so on an irregular shape the dividing line may not be at half the height or width.
• Cylinders: the outer edge of the buffer must be at least 10% of the PDS width from the left or right edge. If that pushes a right-half symbol across the centre, it may cross only as far as necessary.
• The symbol is oriented like most of the other text on the panel, and never placed on the bottom of the package (except on ornamental containers such as cookie tins).
• Scale labels: if the normal location isn't possible, the symbol may go anywhere on the scale label or elsewhere on the PDS, as long as it's visible, covers no other mandatory information and isn't on the bottom.

It can be printed or applied as a sticker that withstands normal handling until the product reaches the consumer. Health Canada encourages placing it so it stays intact when the package is opened.

Source: FDR B.01.355; FOP guide sections 6.1 and 6.2

The size depends on the package's principal display surface (PDS). Each format has a fixed size for each range:

• over 600 cm² (horizontal only)
• over 450 to 600 cm² (horizontal only)
• over 250 to 450 cm²
• over 100 to 250 cm²
• over 30 to 100 cm²
• 30 cm² or less

• The symbol may be larger than the size in the Directory of Nutrition Symbol Specifications if it's scaled proportionally, but never smaller.
• Use the vertical symbol when the PDS is 450 cm² or less and the horizontal one would be wider than the PDP.
• Over 30 cm², the symbol always has three bars (sat fat, sugars, sodium, in that order), with blank bars for nutrients that aren't high. At 30 cm² or less, only the bars needed are shown.
• Store-packaged products with a sticker and a PDS over 250 cm² may use the smaller over 100 to 250 cm² size.

The FOP symbol tool works this out from your package size and gives you the right file, with the minimum buffer.

Source: FDR B.01.352 and B.01.356; Directory of Nutrition Symbol Specifications; FOP guide sections 6.2, 6.4 and 6.5

No colour versions exist. The symbol is black and white: a solid white box with a thin black border, a black magnifying glass on the left, “High in” in bold at the top, the nutrient bars, and “Health Canada” at the bottom. It must match the format in Schedule K.1 exactly.

Around the box there must be a minimum buffer free of text and other graphics. Its width equals the x-height of the text in the symbol, and is set for each format in the Directory of Nutrition Symbol Specifications. The symbol must also stand out clearly from everything else on the panel. Your package design can continue beyond the buffer.

Source: FDR B.01.351 and B.01.355(2), A.01.016; FOP guide sections 6 and 6.3

Yes, unless the product is exempt from bilingual labelling. You can use one bilingual symbol (English first or French first) or two unilingual symbols. A unilingual English symbol on an English PDP is allowed when the French symbol appears on another surface of at least the same size and prominence.

Source: FDR B.01.351(2) to (5) and B.01.012(8); FOP guide section 6.2

Mostly yes. Claims about other nutrients (protein, fibre, energy) are allowed, and so are claims about sat fat, sugars or sodium when the symbol doesn't flag that nutrient: a “low sodium” claim can sit beside a “High in sat fat” symbol. For a nutrient the symbol flags, only the “reduced in” claim is allowed. “Unsweetened” is not allowed with “High in sugars”.

There is also a size limit on the PDP. Claims about a nutrient in the symbol may be no taller than the symbol's own letters. Other health-related claims may be up to twice that height. Brand and product names are not limited.

Source: FDR B.01.357 and B.01.358; FOP guide sections 8.1 and 8.2

Source: FDR B.01.001(1) definitions; B.01.006

• Package with a face shown for sale (cereal box, carton): the total area of that face, not counting the top.
• Lid displayed for sale (hummus tub): the total area of the top of the lid.
• No particular face (cans, round jars): 40% of the total surface area, excluding top and bottom. For a cylinder that's 40% × height × circumference.
• Bag with equal sides: the area of one side. Bag with unequal sides: the area of one of the largest sides.

Example: a can 11 cm tall and 7.5 cm across has a circumference of 3.1416 × 7.5 = 23.56 cm. PDS = 0.40 × 11 × 23.56 = 103.7 cm², so it falls in the over 100 to 250 cm² range for the FOP symbol.

Source: FDR B.01.001(1), “principal display surface”; FOP guide section 9

The total surface area of the package, excluding:

• the bottom, if the contents would leak out or be damaged when the package is turned over;
• any area where a label can't be applied, or where text can't be legible and easily seen when shopping;
• any part meant to be destroyed when the package is opened, except on single-serving packages eaten at one sitting;
• the area taken up by the barcode (UPC).

For an ornamental container, the ADS is the bottom or both sides of an attached tag, whichever is greater. For a package that can't take a label, it's both sides of the attached tag.

Source: FDR B.01.001(1), “available display surface”

Each table format comes in versions from large to small. The bilingual standard format, for example, goes 3.1(B) with 8 point nutrients, 3.2(B) with 7 point, 3.3(B) with 7 point condensed and 3.4(B) with 6 point condensed. You must use the largest version that fits on 15% or less of the available display surface. A smaller version is allowed only when every larger one would take more than 15%.

Example, using the sizes of Health Canada's sample tables (3.1(B) about 43.2 cm², 3.2(B) and 3.3(B) about 35.4 cm², 3.4(B) about 28.0 cm²):

• ADS 400 cm²: 15% is 60 cm². 3.1(B) fits, so you must use 3.1(B).
• ADS 250 cm²: 15% is 37.5 cm². 3.1(B) doesn't fit; 3.2(B) does, so 3.2(B) is the version to use.
• ADS 200 cm²: 15% is 30 cm². Only 3.4(B) fits.

Your own table may be larger or smaller than the sample, depending on your serving size text and any added nutrients. When checking the fit, count only the information the regulations require in the table.

The horizontal format is allowed only when no version of the standard, narrow standard or bilingual standard formats fits within 15%. If nothing fits within 15%, you may use the bilingual standard versions 3.5(B) to 3.7(B), the bilingual horizontal versions 4.3(B) to 4.5(B), the linear format, one of the regular versions even though it takes more than 15%, or put the table on a tag, package insert, the inside of the label, a fold-out label, or an outer sleeve, overwrap or collar. With an insert or inside label, the outside must say where the table is, in at least 8 point type.

The simplified, single-serving and dual formats follow the same 15% logic with their own version tables.

Source: FDR B.01.454 and table; B.01.466

The regulation is short and strict:

“The characters and rules in the nutrition facts table shall be displayed in a single colour that is a visual equivalent of 100% solid black type on a white background or on a uniform neutral background with a maximum 5% tint of colour.”

• Text and lines: one colour only, that looks like solid black on white. Black on white is the safe choice.
• Background: white, or a uniform neutral background tinted with no more than 5% colour. A photo, pattern or gradient behind the table isn't uniform.
• No second colour for highlights or headings, and no reversed (white on dark) tables.

Source: FDR B.01.450(2)

• One standard sans serif font that isn't decorative, used throughout the table.
• Characters must never touch each other or the lines.
• Each version has a minimum type size for the nutrients, for example 8 points in 3.1(B) and 6 points (condensed) in 3.4(B). Layout, spacing, capitals and bold follow the figure in the Directory of Nutrition Facts Table Formats.
• You may make the whole table larger if every character is enlarged by the same amount. The 1 and 2 point lines may be made thicker.
• In a bilingual table, French may come before English.

Source: FDR B.01.450(1) to (6)

• It doesn't have to be on the front. It must be on one continuous surface of the available display surface.
• Bottom: allowed only when the bottom is part of the available display surface, meaning the contents don't leak or get damaged when the package is turned over.
• Sideways: the table must face the same way as the other label text. It may be turned only if it can't fit that way, there's room to turn it, and the product doesn't leak or get damaged when turned over. This rule doesn't apply to a table on the top or bottom.

Source: FDR B.01.451, B.01.452 and B.01.005(5)

Yes. There are three options:

• one English table and one French table on the same continuous surface;
• one bilingual table on a continuous surface;
• an English table on one surface and a French table on another surface of the same size and prominence.

Products allowed to be labelled in one language only may use a table in that language.

Source: FDR B.01.451

Most do. The main exceptions are:

• products where every value except the serving size would be 0;
• alcoholic beverages over 0.5%;
• raw single-ingredient meat, poultry, fish and seafood (ground meat and poultry always need a table);
• products prepared and sold in the same store;
• products sold by the person who made them at roadside stands, craft shows, flea markets, fairs, farmers' markets or sugar bushes;
• single servings sold for immediate consumption, with no process or packaging to extend shelf life;
• store-packaged products with a sticker label and an available display surface under 200 cm²;
• fresh fruits and vegetables with nothing added;
• restaurant portions served with meals or snacks, and milk or cream in refillable glass containers;
• products sold only as ingredients for other manufacturers or food service, or only for serving in food service and institutions.

The exemption is lost (except for fresh fruits and vegetables, restaurant portions, milk and cream in refillable glass, and ingredient or food-service products) if vitamins or minerals are added, or if the label or the manufacturer's advertising mentions energy or a nutrient, makes a nutrition or health claim, shows a health-related logo or seal, or uses the words “Nutrition Facts”.

Source: FDR B.01.401(2), (3) and (7)

Available display surface under 100 cm²: you may leave the table off if the outside of the label tells consumers how to get the nutrition information, with a postal address or toll-free phone number, in at least 8 point type, in English and French. The manufacturer must then provide the full table free on request.

This option isn't available if vitamins or minerals are added, if the label or advertising makes nutrition or health claims, or if a label can't physically be applied to the package. In those cases, use the small versions, the linear format or a tag, insert or fold-out label (see the 15% rule above).

Source: FDR B.01.467 and B.01.466

When six or more of these can be declared as 0: Calories, fat, saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, sodium, carbohydrate, fibre, sugars, protein, potassium, calcium and iron. The simplified table shows the serving size, Calories, fat, carbohydrate and protein, plus any nutrient that isn't 0, any nutrient in a claim, and any added vitamin or mineral, with the statement “Not a significant source of…” naming what was left out.

Source: FDR B.01.401(6) and B.01.455

The % DV is the declared amount per serving divided by the Daily Value, times 100. Saturated and trans fat share one % DV, calculated on their combined amount against 20 g. The Nutrition Facts table generator calculates every % DV from the rounded amounts using the 2022 Table of Daily Values, so you don't enter them yourself.

Source: FDR B.01.401 and table; Table of Daily Values (2022)

You decide it, following Health Canada's serving-size rules and the Table of Reference Amounts for Food. For a multi-serving product it's shown as a household measure (such as “1 cup” or “2 cookies”) with the metric amount. Under 10 g or 10 mL the metric amount is rounded to 0.1, otherwise to the nearest whole number. Enter all nutrient values for that one serving.

Source: FDR B.01.401, table item 1; Table of Reference Amounts for Food

Yes, they're free, with no account, subscription or advertising. Each tool allows two different downloads a day.

It isn't stored. While you type, everything is worked out in your browser. When you download a Nutrition Facts table, the serving size and nutrient values are sent to Karimont's server, which draws the print file, sends it back and keeps nothing about your product. The product name isn't sent. Downloading an FOP symbol sends only which symbol you chose. See Privacy.

The downloads are Health Canada's own symbol figures from the Compendium of Nutrition Symbol Formats, cropped from the PDF without redrawing. Check the size, buffer and placement for your package before printing. Health Canada also supplies the original .eps files on request (smiu-ugdi@hc-sc.gc.ca).

No. It applies Health Canada's published rules to the values you enter, and it isn't legal advice. The label owner is responsible for compliance, so have your label verified before printing.