Healthy Eating Strategy for Canada

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On October 24, 2016 the Honourable Jane Philpott, Minister of Health, launched the Healthy Eating Strategy for Canada. One of the intended outcomes of the Healthy Eating Strategy is to help make the healthier food choice the easier choice. In order to help achieve this, Health Canada is proposing to introduce front-of-package labelling requirements on prepackaged foods high in nutrients of public health concern (sodium, sugars and saturated fat).

Front-of-package nutrition labels can help inform consumers’ choices when buying foods. A front-of-package approach that highlights sodium, sugars and saturated fat can also encourage the food industry to reformulate foods to be lower in these nutrients.

In addition, we are proposing to update the requirements for other information on the front of food packages, including certain claims and labelling requirements for certain high-intensity sweeteners (i.e., aspartame, sucralose, acesulfame-potassium and neotame).

Canadians and stakeholders are invited to provide comments on Health Canada’s  proposed front-of-package nutrition labelling approach. Please provide your comments by January 13, 2017. We encourage you to spread the news about the front-of-package consultation to your colleagues and other interested parties.

The Government of Canada is committed to openness and transparency. Health Canada supports this commitment by making more information available to Canadians.  We are providing increased opportunities to participate in discussions on government policies and priorities.  We encourage you to carefully read our new approach to transparency of stakeholder communications.

Karen McIntyre/ Directrice générale
Director General/ Direction des aliments
Food Directorate/ Direction des aliments
Health Canada/ Santé Canada