Trans fat nutrition claims – Canada vs U.S.
In Canada the Canadian Food Inspection Agency enforces nutritional claims make for foods.
In Canada it is significantly more difficult to label a product as having “zero trans fatty acids” than it is in the United States. Canadian food products must meet each of the following criteria to qualify for a claim of “zero trans fat”:
- contain less than 0.2 grams of trans fatty acids per serving, AND
- contain less than less that 2 grams of saturated fatty acids and trans fatty acids combined per serving
As of January 2006 nutrition labels in the United States must include a line declaring trans fatty acid content. A “zero trans fat” claim can be made if:
- the food product or dietary supplement (e.g. energy or nutrition bar) contains less that 0.5 grams of trans fatty acids per serving.
A “zero trans fatty acids” claim in the US is not linked to the amount of saturated fatty acids in the serving. US regulations also permit over TWICE! the level of trans fatty acids per serving than is permitted in Canada to make the same “zero trans fatty acids” claim.
If you are interested in more info. regarding labelling of fats please take a minute to comment on this brief post. SB
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