The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) published a Notice to industry – Compliance timelines for the use of food additives in certain ready-to-eat meat products to remind industry that the use of food additives in certain ready-to-eat (RTE) meat products must be clearly labelled and advertised. If companies do not comply with these regulations, they face harsh penalties.
Food additives may be used as per Health Canada’s lists of permitted food additives; however, it is required by the Food and Drug Regulations (FDR) that these food additives be declared in the list of ingredients as either an ingredient or a component of the food (FDR B.01.008).
Regulated parties have a 12-month transition period, starting November 8th, 2021 and ending on November 8th, 2022, to bring their labels and advertising into compliance. For information on labelling, please refer to the Industry Labelling Tool. The CFIA will be monitoring compliance with all federal labelling and advertising requirements and conducting follow up inspections to ensure the necessary changes have been made. Join Health Canada’s Food Additives e-Notice, a free service to stay on top of issued advice as well as regulatory and scientific developments in the area of food additives in Canada.