Consultation on the development of voluntary guidance for providing food information for foods sold to consumers through e-commerce: Closed consultation

Current status: Closed

This consultation ran from May 9 to July 8, 2022

The sale of foods through e-commerce has increased over recent years and the information provided to consumers is inconsistent and sometimes inadequate to inform food purchases.

Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) were seeking feedback on how to help make food information more consistently available and accessible to Canadians when shopping for food online.

Who was the focus of this consultation

Health Canada and the CFIA sought comments from:

• people of Canada
• consumers and consumer associations
• food industry and industry associations
• health professionals and associations
• academia and experts
• other government departments/agencies, including provincial/territorial and municipal
• trading partners

Key themes for discussion

To inform the development of guidance, Health Canada and the CFIA wanted to hear from all Canadians on:

• How frequently you shop for food online
• How you would describe your experience accessing food information when shopping for foods online (for example, list of ingredients and allergens, nutrition facts table)
• What you think could improve your access to food information when shopping for foods online

Additional questions within the consultation document sought stakeholder input on the:

• proposed principles and approach for developing voluntary guidance; and
• challenges faced by retailers in obtaining, providing and/or maintaining information about foods for sale through e-commerce

Related information

• Consultation on the development of voluntary guidance for providing food information for foods sold to consumers through e-commerce
• Food and Drug Regulations
• Food and Drugs Act
• Food labelling for industry
• Nutrition Labelling Online Course

Contact us

Email: nut.labelling-etiquetage@hc-sc.gc.ca
Subject line: Consultation on Online Food labelling