NEW: Health Canada Food Directorate Announces Modifications to the List of Permitted Sweeteners

Posted February 6, 2023

By: Joanna Chudyk, Regulatory Affairs Specialist, email

On February 2, 2023, the Food Directorate announced changes coming to the List of Permitted Sweeteners that would allow the use of Erythritol in breakfast cereals. The established levels of use in ready-to-eat breakfast cereals and granolas will permit up to 11.6% in the cereals and up to 30% in the coatings. These changes come from a petitioner requesting the expansion of Erythritol use in other food categories through a Food Additive Submission. This process involves a pre-market assessment by the Food Directorate of all potential risks associated with the proposed change and is intended to allow for the List of Permitted Food Additives to continue expanding as more scientific data is available.

How will these changes effect food labelling?

In general, food additives must always appear in the list of ingredients on the food label. For an sugar alcohols there is also an additional requirement that the total content be listed in either the Nutrition Facts Table (NFT) or on the label (if the label does not require an NFT).

Have any questions on Food Labelling? Interested in filing a Food Additive Submission? Contact our experts today and make us your simple solution to becoming compliant with the Canadian Food Regulations.

Contact:
Dell Tech
Joanna Chudyk, M. Sc.
Regulatory Affairs Specialist
joanna@delltech.com