Health Canada’s New Supplemented Food Label

As of January 1^st, 2026, all supplemented foods will be required by Health Canada to have specific labels to help consumers make informed choices. Instead of a “Nutrition Facts” table as seen on conventional and fortified foods, the new label will have the title “Supplemented Food Facts” and will include the same information as the nutrition facts table in addition to a “Supplemented with” section that lists all supplemented ingredients.

What are conventional and fortified foods?

A conventional food is one without added vitamins, minerals, amino acids or caffeine.  For example, cheese, olive oil and canned beans are conventional foods with Nutrition Facts tables and ingredient lists.  They may also have a nutrition claim on the label such as high in fibre or low in sodium.

A fortified food is a food with added vitamins, minerals or amino acids that have been added for nutritional purposes such as restoring levels lost during processing (iron added to white bread), preventing nutritional deficiencies in a population (iodine added to table salt), ensuring substitute foods are nutritionally equivalent to the food they are intended to replace (calcium and vitamin D added to fortified plant-based beverages)

What is a supplemented food?

Supplemented foods are packaged foods that have had one or more additional ingredietns added for purposes other than nutrition.  For example, energy drinks with added caffeine, beverages with added vitamins and minerals or bars with added vitamins, minerals or amino acids.

Some supplemented foods will carry a cautionary statement in a box on the side or back of the product if it could pose a health risk if consumed in excess or consumed by people who are under the age of 14, pregnant or breastfeeding or are sensitive to caffeine.

For more information about supplemented foods and their labels go to:

https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/food-nutrition/supplemented-foods/labels.html