Volume 14, Number
2 - February 2014
Hello from
Food Label News!
This month we salute our friends to the north with an
article that contrasts food label regulations in U.S. and
Canada, and we continue the series on package claims focused
on structure/function. The Reader Q&A is on the popular
topic of rounding for Nutrition Facts. If you have a
question you'd like addressed, send it to us
as a potential
Reader Q&A for a future issue, post it in the
Food Label Community, or receive a confidential and
timely answer using our
Regulatory Support. We're always happy to hear
what's on your mind!
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Nuances in Nutrition Labeling:
U.S. vs. Canada
For food companies who want to sell products in multiple
countries, understanding the similarities and differences
for nutrition labeling is crucial to reduce regulatory risk.
We were recently asked by Food Chemical News to
explore how these regulations vary across geographies and
their implications for food labelers.
It’s important to know that it is not possible to create a
single label that can be used in U.S. and Canada. Each
country has its own set of regulations and graphic
requirements.
Here are some highlights of the differences:
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U.S. requires: 1) Servings Per Container, 2) Calories
from Fat, 3) % Daily Value (DV) for
Cholesterol, and 4) DV footnote. These
elements are not required on a Nutrition Facts
table for Canada. |
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In Canada, Trans Fat is rounded
to the nearest tenth (0.1g), whereas in U.S. it
is rounded to the nearest half (0.5g). |
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There is no DV for Trans Fat in
the U.S. In Canada, Trans Fat is added to
Saturated Fat to determine a composite DV. |
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Canada requires bilingual English/French and
Anglicized English for words such as fibre. |
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Country-specific requirements can result in
different values for the same formulation. For
example, the fiber/fibre definition varies between
the two countries as well as DVs for some
vitamins and minerals. |
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What's News
in the
Food Label Community
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FDA provides Guidance for makers of
energy drinks |
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Labeling an almond-type flavor made from
peach and apricot pits |
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Protein claims on grains? Using the
corrected amino acid score |
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Added water in fruit juice - does it always need to be listed? |
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Reference Amounts Customarily Consumed:
discussions reopened? |
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What are the gluten-free rules for restaurants? |
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Connect with
other food labelers on LinkedIn |
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Reader Favorites
Key Differences in
Ingredient and
Allergen Labeling for U.S. & Canada |
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Search answers
to food label questions |
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Each country's regulatory body (FDA in U.S., CFIA in Canada) establishes the
reference amounts to be used in nutrition labeling. Because this is a
country-specific process, reference amounts for nutrients vary around the world.
See a
quick, detailed overview of required and allowable nutrients for nutrition
labeling and their established reference amounts in U.S., Canada, Mexico, and EU. |
Package Claims: U.S. and Canada - Part 4 of 8
U.S. Structure/Function Claims
This month's installment in our 8-part series overviews
U.S. structure/function claims. This series is designed
to help food labelers become familiar with what claims
and label statements are allowable and how to position a
product’s nutritional attributes to achieve marketing
objectives.
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U.S. structure/function claims describe the role
of a nutrient or functional component in
affecting or maintaining normal body structure
or function, or general well-being. You will
find a useful reference for examples of
allowable structure/function claims and guidance
for what variations of these claims become
non-allowable drug claims. |
View/print
Part 4 of the series.
If you missed earlier parts of the series you can view
and download them now:
Part 1,
Part 2,
Part 3. The print-ready pages from all parts of the
series will add up the complete regulatory guide for
U.S. and Canadian package claims.
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Reader Q&A
Find
answers to our readers'
questions or send us
your question for an
upcoming issue.
Q. |
The CFR section 101.9(c)(8)(i) states that Servings Per
Container between 2 and 5 need to be rounded to the
nearest half (0.5). Some of our packages contain 3.89
servings on an unrounded basis. We initially thought
that we should round to 4, but we are wondering if we
should round down to 3.5 instead. I would really
appreciate your input.
− B.H.,
Ohio, Retail Confections
Company |
A. |
If your calculations yield an unrounded number of 3.89
Servings Per Container, then you should report the
Servings Per Container as "about 4" within the Nutrition
Facts Panel. Note use of the word “about” to signify a
rounded number. If however your unrounded number of
Servings Per Container is calculated as 3.69, then you
would report the number of servings as "about 3.5"
within the Nutrition Facts Panel. More
reader Q&As on Serving Size and Servings Per
Container. |
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What matters in food labeling
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