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Net Quantity Statement
Must be declared in metric units on the principal
display panel. Net quantity is by volume for liquids,
weight for solids, and count for certain foods. The
following metric symbols are considered bilingual
and should not be followed by a period: g for grams,
kg for kilograms, ml for milliliters, L for litres.
Bilingual Requirements
All mandatory information on food labels must be
shown in both official languages (i.e. French and
English) when sold outside the local government
area with the exception of name identity and address,
which may be in either French or English.
List of Ingredients
Pre-packaged, multi-ingredient foods require an
ingredient list, listed in descending order of
proportion by weight in the food. Ingredients and
their components must be declared by their common
names.
Universal Product Code or Bar Code
The bar code is a 12-digit, all numeric, machine
readable code that identifies the consumer package.
A unique bar code is given to every product making
product identification and retail inventory
management simpler and more accurate.
Contact:
GS1 Canada
Suite 110, 720 - 28th Street NE
Calgary, Alberta T2A 6R3
Phone: 403-291-2235
www.gs1ca.org
Label Review Service
CFIA officers are pleased to assist you in applying
the labeling regulations to your product, or in
reviewing your food label to ensure it meets the
regulations before you incur printing expenses.
Contact the office nearest you for further
information:
Calgary Office
403-292-4650
Edmonton Office
780-495-4270
www.inspection.gc.ca
Package Considerations
Characteristics of a good safe package from a
technical viewpoint include:
• compatibility with the product, processing and
storage conditions
• product protection from chemical, physical and
biological sources of deterioration
• suitability for the intended final use of the product
(e.g. microwavable)
• ability to withstand the stresses of distribution
(e.g. will not degrade or break)
In choosing packaging materials you must first
consider what product protection is needed,
e.g. light, crushing, dehydration and oxygen. The
protection offered by a package is determined by the
nature of the packaging material and the package
construction. Packages may be flexible (e.g. paper,
foil, plastics), and rigid (e.g. cans, glass, plastic) or
semi-rigid (e.g. cans, some plastic containers).
As a starting point you can look at what your
competition is doing with their package and consider
some of the basic pros and cons of common
materials. Discussing your requirements with
suppliers of packaging materials, packaging
specialists and food scientists can help you make
your technical packaging decisions.