Canada food allergen labelling

Canada requires priority allergens, gluten sources and added sulphites to be declared in the ingredients or a bilingual Contains statement.

The priority allergens

Canada requires priority food allergens to be declared. They are peanuts; tree nuts; sesame; milk; eggs; fish; crustaceans and molluscs, meaning shellfish; soy; wheat and triticale; mustard; and added sulphites. Any product containing one of these as an ingredient has to make it clear on the label.

How to declare them

The source of a priority allergen, a gluten source, or added sulphites must be shown either in the list of ingredients or in a separate Contains statement placed immediately after the ingredient list. Whichever method you use, the declaration is made in both English and French.

Precautionary statements

Precautionary statements such as may contain are voluntary. They are for the risk of unintended cross-contact and never replace declaring an allergen that is actually an ingredient. A may contain line is not a substitute for naming a priority allergen that the recipe includes.

Keeping allergens accurate

Allergen labelling has to track the recipe exactly, in both languages, and stay consistent with the ingredient list every time a formulation changes. That link between recipe and label is where mistakes happen — LabelYog builds it from your recipe.

At a glance

• Check the recipe against every priority allergen, including sesame and mustard
• Declare wheat and triticale, and added sulphites, where present
• Show each source in the ingredients or a Contains statement right after them
• Make allergen declarations bilingual in English and French
• Use precautionary may contain wording only for genuine cross-contact risk
• Never let a may contain line replace declaring an ingredient allergen

Questions