By: Joanna Chudyk, SENIOR REGULATORY AFFAIRS SPECIALIST, email
In July 2022, new regulations mandated the inclusion of the Front-of-Package (FOP) nutrition symbol and the Supplemented Food Caution Identifier (SFCI) on the Principal Display Panel (PDP) of food products. These symbols aim to help consumers make healthier choices and understand potential safety risks associated with certain products.
The FOP symbol applies to foods that exceed set thresholds for saturated fats, sugars, and sodium, while the SFCI is required for products regulated under the Supplemented Food Regulations that include cautionary statements. Both symbols must be displayed prominently on the PDP, adhering to specific formatting guidelines based on label size.
However, when both symbols are required, they can occupy a significant portion of the PDP, potentially limiting space for other essential labelling information.
To address this challenge, Health Canada issued a notice on July 17, 2024, offering greater flexibility for products needing both symbols. Notably, the buffer zone requirement— the intentional space surrounding the symbols—has been removed for contiguous symbols with shared borders.
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