Food Label Reviews
Mallot Creek’s food safety experts are experienced in navigating the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations (SFCR) and Food and Drug Regulations (FDR) regulatory requirements for industry labelling. These key acts and regulations aim to protect Canadians against health hazards and fraudulent activities surrounding the sale of food products. Our academically qualified food safety team has developed an internal review process that assists food manufacturing companies with labelling a large variety of food products, while keeping informed of regulatory updates on an ongoing basis. We provide domestic reviews (Canadian), as well as international reviews (US to Canada, Canada to US) and will work with your company to establish all general and food-specific labelling requirements your prepackaged food product must legally adhere to before it is introduced to the market. As of December 14, 2021 all prepackaged food products being manufactured or imported to Canada must comply with the SFCR and FDR labelling requirements.
What Does a Compliant Food Label Accomplish?
Ensuring food label compliance where the product is sold is a legal responsibility of the manufacturer (and importer of international products) as it creates consistency within the food industry. Without consistency there would be no basis to display the necessary nutritional and food safety information to a consumer. A compliant food label will be composed of various elements that communicate all relevant information. These core labelling requirements include appropriate product identification, ingredient and allergen lists, an expiration date and/or lot code, cooking instructions and safe product handling. When a consumer is purchasing a food product, they can use the information provided on the label to make knowledgeable decisions regarding their health, safety and wellbeing.
Enhance Your Food Label with Mallot Creek’s Guidance
Our experience in food labelling includes working with various manufacturers in the meat, fish, dairy, produce, bakery, confectionary, and beverage industry. Each of these categories of food products have common requirements along with food specific requirements that must be met when sold as a prepackaged product. Mallot Creek’s food safety team has a profound knowledge of the food industries competitive landscape, access to market research and industry experts to provide you with highest quality feedback on your food label.
Specification Sheet Review and Copy Deck Creation
Specification Sheet Review
The development of a food label starts with the product’s specification sheet. Mallot Creek’s food safety team can work with food manufacturers, including importers and exporters, to ensure specification sheet records contain all the key information needed to create a food label that is compliant with SFCR and FDR standards. Accurate specification sheets are important to a manufacturer to ensure they can retrieve information about their product in a quick and timely manner if requested from the CFIA or other third party operators.
Copy Deck Creation
Mallot Creek’s food safety team can work with you to craft copy deck documents that will act as instructional guides for graphic designers. Copy decks use all relevant information taken from specification sheets and can be used to reference regulatory information that must be incorporated on the label. Important instructions your designer(s) can reference include mandatory minimum font sizes, format of nutrition facts table, location and placement of required statements, mandatory logos and their usage instructions. With a copy deck document for reference, your design team will be able to efficiently create food labels that are both compliant and visually appealing.
Food Label and Nutrition Facts Review
Mallot Creek’s food safety team understands the importance of differentiating your branded product in a sea of competitors. With that in mind, we have customized a label review process that will verify all regulatory aspects of the label. The repercussions of mislabeling can be very serious – costing your company time, money and distinguished status. Our review process reduces risk of labelling errors and allows your products to reach the market faster.
At the label review stage our team will complete an in depth review of the following:
- Common name
- Date marking and storage instructions
- Ingredient and allergen lists
- Nutritional labelling
- Grades
- Claims (health, composition, quality, origin, nutrition content)
- Pictures and their overall impression on the food product
- Vignettes and logos
- Trademarks
- Third party endorsements
- Awards, seals and certificates of approval
- Any other food specific labelling requirements
