New Front of Package nutritional labelling regulations were announced by the Canadian federal government and Health Canada. Affected food manufacturers have until January first of 2026 to comply with the requirements and change their existing labels. For those of you wondering, food package labelling targets foods that have high saturated fats, sugars, and sodium.
Foods that exceed the predetermined threshold for sodium, sugars, and saturated fats will be required to place a symbol on the principal display panel indicating the food product is high in one or more of those categories. The reason behind the Front-of-package nutrition labelling is because it?s a key part of Health Canada?s Healthy Eating Strategy. This will improve Canadians? abilities to make informed and better choices when it comes to choosing their food.
While this is a great step towards a healthier Canada, the Canadian cattle and hog producer associations were shocked when they saw the initial list included ground beef and ground pork. In turn, both products are now exempt from the new labelling regulations due to the successful lobby efforts.
Rick Bergmann of the Canadian Pork Council says his organization is grateful the federal government listened to his sectors and consumer concerns upon receiving news that Health Canada had reversed its decision.
President of the Canadian Cattlemen?s Association, Reg Schellenberg says both the pork and beef industries were concerned that they would not have the time to lobby federal policy makers before Parliament in Ottawa broke for summer recess.
?When the Front of Label packaging was first announced, we knew that we had to rally the industry and really push hard against this policy. They had said it was going to go through. So, we knew we had to be very proactive and lobby as hard as we could in a narrow window. When they break for the summer things go silent, and that was our concern. Health Canada and the government listened to industry and producer concerns, as well as concerns from our consumers.?
Schellenberg says the Canadian Cattlemen take any threat to the ground beef market very seriously. He mentions that hamburger alone makes up about half of the industry?s total beef volume.
?Hamburger is at the center of many Canadian meals, and represents fifty percent of all the beef sold in Canada. In a time of price inflation, ground beef continues to be the most affordable meat protein of choice. Consumers were concern the impact would work against them, for their purchases. So, timing was good, and we?re very, very pleased with the way things have turned out.?
Front-of-package nutrition labels exist in many countries. For instance, Chile recently introduced a mandatory warning label on food high in calories, sugars, sodium, and saturated fat. While the United Kingdom has a voluntary ?traffic light? system where they use red, amber, and green colors to illustrate a ranking for total fat, saturated fat, sugars, and salt.
