Notice to industry: Your regulatory responsibilities regarding caffeinated energy drinks

August 15, 2023

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has issued recall warnings about various brands of caffeinated drinks.

We are aware of non-compliant caffeinated energy drinks (CEDs) being sold to consumers by various importers, retailers and also online. This is a reminder that you are responsible to ensure the CEDs you manufacture, import, or distribute meet Canadian requirements, especially that they do not contain more than 180 mg of caffeine in a single serving container and carry the cautionary statements required. These prepackaged foods can be beverages or dry mixes and are considered to be supplemented foods (SFs).

Vulnerable populations, such as children, breastfeeding and pregnant people, or individuals sensitive to caffeine, can have adverse health effects if they drink these products. Negative health effects are also expected if other people overconsume these products. They rely on and trust that industry will not sell them products that do not meet Canada's food safety standards. If you sell a product that does not meet these standards, it can end up being consumed by someone who is vulnerable and could harm them.

The CFIA is conducting inspection activities to verify those who are non-compliant.  Where non-compliance is found, CFIA may take regulatory response actions, which can include, product seizure and detention, licence suspension, administrative monetary penalties or prosecution.

If you import CEDs:

• Ensure you meet the requirements set out in the Temporary Marketing Authorization Letter (TMAL) from Health Canada or
• Ensure your products meet the requirements of the regulations at the time of import if you don't have a TMAL.

If you distribute CEDs :

• Ensure your product meets the requirements before distributing further.

Safe Food for Canadians Regulations licence holders will continue to be responsible for notifying the CFIA if their food presents a risk of injury to human health.

Supporting information

To assist industry in the interpretation of the SFs requirements and to ensure their SFs are compliant, the following resources are available:

• Implementation plan for amendments to the Food and Drug Regulations (Supplemented Foods)
• About supplemented foods and their labels
• Supplemented foods: Regulations and compliance
• Transition to the supplemented foods regulatory framework
• Guidance document for Supplemented foods regulations: executive summary (The full electronic copy of the guidance can be requested by an e-mail to supplementedfoods-alimentssupplementes@hc-sc.gc.ca)
• Category Specific Guidance for Temporary Marketing Authorization – Caffeinated Energy Drinks
• Importing food to Canada: a step-by-step guide

Questions

For more information, you can contact CFIA online.

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