What does the front-of-pack labelling requirement mean for food products being imported into Canada?

COMPLIANCE ALERT: Products made or imported on or after January 1, 2026 that do not comply with the front-of-pack labelling requirement are subject to regulatory action. Sell-through allowances apply only to products manufactured or imported before the deadline. 

Canada’s front-of-pack labelling requirement took full enforcement effect on January 1, 2026. Any food product that has more than 15 percent of the daily value of saturated fat, sodium, or sugars must carry a Health Canada front-of-pack symbol on the label. This applies equally to domestically produced and imported food products. 

The front-of-pack symbol is specific to Canada and is not the same as nutritional labels used in the United States, the United Kingdom, or other markets. International food brands that have reformulated or relabelled their products for US FDA compliance or EU nutritional requirements cannot assume that their Canadian labelling obligations are also satisfied. The FOP symbol is a separate and additional Canadian requirement. 

There are exemptions from the FOP requirement for certain food categories, but most packaged food products high in the three identified nutrients are required to carry the symbol. The assessment is based on the nutrition facts table values for the product as imported, not on the formulation in the country of origin. 

Products manufactured or imported before January 1, 2026 may continue to be sold without the FOP symbol under a sell-through allowance until existing stock is depleted. Products manufactured or imported on or after January 1, 2026 must comply before they can be sold in Canada. For international food brands with ongoing import schedules, this means every new shipment of an affected product must arrive with compliant labelling. 

INSIDER INTELLIGENCE: The FOP requirement is catching international food brands that focused on CFIA food safety compliance and did not realize that Health Canada’s nutritional labelling obligations require a separate assessment. A product can be fully SFCR compliant and still be non-compliant on FOP labelling.