Canada's department of health has introduced a nutrition labeling 'toolkit' to help dietitians and health professionals educate consumers on the new nutrition labeling, to become mandatory for large companies in three years.
The new regulations require most pre-packaged food labels to carry a 'Nutrition Facts' table listing the serving size, and per-serving facts about calories and 13 key nutrients. Criteria for nutrient content claims have also been updated and diet-related health claims will be allowed for the first time in Canada.
Minister of Health, the Honourable Anne McLellan, unveiled the program at a recent Capital Health of Edmonton's 'Building Capacity through Partnership' conference.
The 'Toolkit for Educators' includes a series of fact sheets, speaking notes, posters as well as Consumer Tearsheets that provide key messages on Nutrition Facts and claims. More than 8000 dietitians, diabetes educators, provincial nutritionists and other key nutrition partners across Canada will receive the ToolKit.
Minister McLellan said: "The widespread availability of nutrition labelling, coupled with effective education, offers a significant opportunity to improve the nutritional health and well-being of Canadians by allowing us to compare products more easily, assess the nutritional value of more foods and better manage special diets."
"Our ultimate goal is to provide Canadians with information that is easy to find, easy to use and easy to read so that they can make informed choices," she added.
The new nutrition labelling system is intended to reinforce information about healthy eating practices, increase understanding of the links between nutritional health and well-being, and help people reduce the risks of chronic nutrition-related diseases. The economic burden of a poor diet has been estimated at C$6.3 billion annually in Canada, including direct health care costs of C$1.8 billion.
The first food labels to feature Nutrition Facts are expected to appear in the next six to nine months. Large companies have up to three years to comply with the new regulations while small businesses have five years.