Government of Canada Launches New Phase of Nutrition Facts Education Campaign

 

Toronto – May 29, 2015

The Honourable Tony Clement, President of the Treasury Board, on behalf of the Honourable Rona Ambrose, Minister of Health, today launched the second phase of the Nutrition Facts Education Campaign (NFEC) to help Canadians make more informed food choices for themselves and their families.  The announcement was made together with campaign partners Derek Nighbor, Senior Vice-President of Food & Consumer Products of Canada (FCPC), and David Wilkes, Senior Vice-President of the Retail Council of Canada (RCC) as well as with the Canadian Federation of Independent Grocers (CFIG).

Minister Clement unveiled the campaign’s theme, “Focus on the Facts”. The campaign  encourages Canadians – especially parents of children aged 2 to 12 – to use the “Serving Size” in the Nutrition Facts table (NFt) on packaged foods to compare similar foods.  By using the “Serving Size” and “Percent Daily Value”, consumers can choose foods that have more of the nutrients they want to consume, such as fibre and calcium, and less of those they don’t want, such as saturated and trans fats and sodium.

The campaign is part of a broader government effort to help Canadians choose healthier foods by learning how to read and use the nutrition information on food labels. The NFEC Focus on the Facts messages and tips will still apply for future changes to the NFt.  Serving size and %DV are the core concepts behind the present Nutrition Facts table and are the focus of this campaign.  These will continue to be important concepts for consumers to use when comparing foods.