Food and Beverage

Food and Drug Regulations were amended on December 14, 2016 to include better nutritional labelling, ingredients listing of the prepackaged food products. These changes were made to support Health Canada’s Healthy Eating Strategy initiative by making the labels more simplified and easier to read at the point of purchase (Figure 1 below). The 5-year transition period ends December 14, 2021, however with the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and resulting restrictions, timelines have shifted as well additional flexibilities are being provided to support the industry. Figure 1: Original and New Nutrition Facts Table Format Source: https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/food-labelling-changes.html Highlights of [...]

A Preventive Control Plan (PCP) is required under the Safe Food for Canadian Regulations [SFCR] for food manufacturers and importers. At its core, the purpose of a well written PCP is to protect consumers from food-related illnesses and injury. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) defines a PCP as a written plan outlining the measures and actions taken to ensure “that food is safe for the consumer, is fit for human consumption, and conforms to safety and labelling requirements as prescribed by all applicable Canadian food legislation.” The written document outlines: activities taking place at your facility that can [...]

Traceability has become more important than ever as food product supply chains become increasingly complex.  Traceability records not only provide supply chain visibility and risk reduction, it also helps companies to support their quality control systems from production, processing to distribution. Having proper traceability records is a CFIA requirement under Safe Food for Canadians Regulations (SFCR).  They directly impact the effectiveness and timeliness of food safety investigations and to remove products quickly from the market, as well provides a pathway to trace the problem back to the root and prevent future issues. As products move from one entity to [...]

Meeting Food Allergen Labeling Requirements Food allergies are a public health concern in many countries. In Canada alone, it is estimated that over 3 million Canadians are affected by food allergies, with two thirds of those afflicted being young children. Presently, there are no known therapies to cure allergies, so current options include strict avoidance, through education such as recognizing when a reaction is taking place and taking steps for immediate medical attention, and understanding how to properly read food product labels. As a food manufacturer ensuring strict avoidance is generally out your control, it is vital [...]

The Safe Food for Canadians Regulations (SFCR) was finalized in June 2018 with phase one coming into force on January 15, 2020 for fresh produce companies, and phase two on July 15th, 2020 for the manufacturing sector.  The goal of the new rules is to capture all aspects of food safety, from production to the supply chain into a single set of regulations. The rules also put the emphasis on activity rather than what is produced through Licensing, Preventive Controls, Traceability, Importing, and Exporting. Under the new rules, July 15, 2020 was also the deadline for the businesses in the [...]

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) yesterday temporarily lifted certain food labeling restrictions that have no impact on food safety as an initiative to support the economy, alleviate supply disruptions in Canadian grocery stores, and avoid food waste due to COVID-19. This is making way for retail sale of products that are packaged and labelled in Canada intended for food service, products packaged and labelled in the past 90 days and food products that are labelled according to U.S. labeling requirements to sell without label changes.This initiative by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is part of their ongoing [...]