Health Canada published amendments to the Food and Drug Regulations (regulations) five years ago to improve labelling on food and beverage products. These amendments included changes to nutrition labelling, list of ingredients and food colour requirements.
The industry was given a 5-year transition period to meet the new requirements; the transition period ends on December 14, 2021.
Due to pandemic challenges, CFIA announced that they will focus efforts on education on compliance during the first year, until December 14, 2022. While the regulatory compliance date remains December 14, 2021, the enforcement date has been extended by one year.
To comply with the new regulations, the LCBO will be updating its submission process.
Effective September 15, 2021, artwork labels submitted in the New Item Submission System (NISS) will only be evaluated against new regulation requirements. This will allow LCBO to provide label review feedback specific to the new regulations and support vendors in this transition. For further info, please refer to our memo to trade partners from April 28, 2021, HERE.
Existing products with labels that are not compliant with the new regulations after the deadline of December 14, 2021 will be flagged for non-compliance.
LCBO will work with vendors to ensure action plans are developed to bring products into compliance no later than December, 14, 2022. LCBO’s plans for corrective actions, including possible corrective labelling, will be confirmed at a later date.
Your assistance in sharing this information with your members is greatly appreciated. Inquiries about the regulations, Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) or Health Canada requirements should be directed to CFIA via their website.
Inquiries about LCBO label reviews may be directed to the LCBO’s Quality Assurance department. Email quality.assurance@lcbo.com or call (416) 864-6724.