Choices Markets - BC's Grocery Leader in Gourmet and Organic Foods [Nutrition Labels]

Food Labelling: "A tool to support healthy eating"Food Labelling: "A tool to support healthy eating"

The nutrition fact label is one of the most important and direct means of communicating product information between buyers and sellers. It is one of the primary means by which consumers differentiate between individual foods and brands to make informed purchasing choices.

A label serves three primary functions:

It provides basic product information (including common name, list of ingredients, net quantity, durable life date, grade/quality, country of origin and name and address of manufacturer, dealer or importer).
It provides health, safety, and nutrition information. This includes instructions for safe storage and handling, nutrition information such as the quantity of fats, proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals present per serving of stated size of the food (in the Nutrition Facts table), and specific information on products for special dietary use.
It acts as a vehicle for food marketing, promotion and advertising (via label vignettes, promotional information and label claims such as "low fat", "cholesterol-free", "high source of fibre", "product of Canada", "natural", "organic", "no preservatives added", and so on).

Source: CFIA Website (www.inspection.gc.ca)

Almost all pre-packaged foods have Nutrition Facts

Some exceptions:

Fresh fruit and vegetables
Raw meat, poultry, fish and seafood
(unless it has been ground)
Foods prepared or processed at the store
(bakery items, sausage, salads)
Foods that contain very few nutrients
(coffee beans, tea leaves, spices)
Alcoholic beverages.

Use Nutrition Facts to make informed food choices

To help you choose foods that meet your needs.
To easily compare similar foods.
To look for foods with more or less of a specific nutrient.
To select foods for special diets.

Use % Daily Value to see if a food has a lot or a little of a nutrient

The actual numbers can be confusing, for example:

2 mg of iron seems small but it is 15 % of the Daily Value for iron.
110 mg of sodium seems large but it is only 5 % of the Daily Value for sodium.

Please note: All recommended daily values on a Nutrition Facts label are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

% Daily Value makes it easy to see if there is a lot or a little of a nutrient without having to do any math.

Foods containing a % Daily Value of:

Less than or equal to 5% for fat, sodium or cholesterol is considered low in these three nutrients
Less than or equal to 10% or less for saturated + trans fat would be low in these two nutrients
Greater than or equal to 15% for calcium, iron, vitamin A or fibre, the food would be considered high in these nutrients

For example, if you are looking to reduce the cholesterol in your diet, choose products having 5% or less Daily Value for cholesterol. Source: Health Canada, 2003. (www.hc-sc.gc.ca)

Nutrition claims

They are:

Regulated statements made when a food meets certain criteria - this ensures claims will be consistent and not misleading.
Optional, so may be found only on some food products.
Often on the front of food packages.
A quick and easy way to get information about a food.

Keep an eye out for claims using the words "Free", "Low", "Reduced", "Source", or "Light". Criteria for meeting these claims are outlined below. Source: Health Canada. (www.hc-sc.gc.ca)

Key Words	Meaning
Cholesterol-free	< 2 mg cholesterol and low in saturated fat* (not necessarily low in total fat)
Free	An amount of a nutrient so small that health experts consider nutritionally insignificant
Light	When referring to a nutritional characteristic it is allowed on foods that are either "reduced in fat" or "reduced in energy/calories". If used to refer to colour, texture or taste an explanation is required on the label as to what makes the food "light"
Low	Always associated with a very small amount of a nutrient
Low fat	< 3 g of fat*
Low in saturated fat	< 2 g of saturated fat and trans fat combined*
Reduced	At least 25% less of a nutrient compared with a similar product
Reduced in calories	At least 25% less calories than the food compared to a similar product
Sodium-free	< 5mg sodium*
Source	Always associated with a significant amount
Source of calcium	165 mg of calcium*
Source of fibre	4 g of fibre*