Category: Canada
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Health Canada Reclassifies Energy Drinks, Caps Caffeine Content
New Canadian regulations that took effect January 1, 2013, have reclassified energy drinks as food instead of natural health products and capped their caffeine content at 180 mg per serving. First proposed in 2011, the regulations aim to address concerns that consumers imbibing such beverages could exceed the maximum caffeine intake levels recommended by Health…
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Health Canada Approves Stevia for Tabletop and Food Use
Health Canada has issued a notice of modification adding steviol glycosides derived from the stevia plant to its list of permitted sweeteners. After concluding a technical consultation published on July 31, 2012, in response to three separate food additive submissions, Health Canada has evidently agreed that “available data support the safety and efficacy of steviol…
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Safe Food for Canadians Act Consolidates CFIA Oversight
Canadian Governor General David Johnson has approved through royal assent the Safe Food for Canadians Act (SFCA), which aims to improve food safety by focusing on unsafe practices, import surveillance and food traceability. Passed unanimously by the House of Commons, the act consolidates some of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s (CFIA’s) existing food commodity statutes—including…
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Health Canada Backs Safety of BPA in Food Packaging
Health Canada has released an updated assessment of bisphenol A (BPA), concluding that dietary exposure through food sources “is not expected to pose a health risk.” The September 2012 assessment takes into account surveys performed after the agency issued its first conclusions in 2008, when it found “Probable Daily Intakes (PDI) for BPA of 0.18…
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Canadian Agency Issues Draft Model for Food Inspection Modernization
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has issued a draft food inspection model as part of its Inspection Modernization: Optimizing Confidence in Food Safety plan. According to CFIA, the modernized approach to food inspection will apply to both imported and domestic commodities and, in addition to the inspection model, rely on modern science, improved data…
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Health Canada Releases Voluntary Sodium Guidelines for Processed Foods
Health Canada recently issued “Guidance for the Food Industry on Reducing Sodium in Processed Foods” as part of its effort “to help Canadians achieve the average sodium intake goal of 2300 mg per day by 2016.” According to Health Canada, which developed the voluntary guidance after receiving “significant input” from stakeholders, the benchmark sodium levels…
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Canada Targets Food Safety Inspections
The Canadian government has issued a discussion document outlining a plan for a “stronger, more comprehensive inspection approach to further strengthen food safety.” Titled “Improved Food Inspection Model: The Case for Change,” the plan represents the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s (CFIA’s) latest effort to keep up with a changing global “food landscape.” Last year, CFIA…
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Health Canada Closes Natural Health Product Loophole
Health Canada has reportedly notified companies that it will no longer accept natural-health product (NHP) applications for functional foods and similar products that are “represented, packaged and sold as foods.” According to media sources, the agency in a letter to industry explained that NHPs such as prepackaged beverages, protein mixes and other products resembling conventional…