According to Section 17. Packaging Materials of the CanadaGAP manual, market ready packaging materials must be labelled with:

  • The correct identifying information (i.e., name and address) of:
  • The operation that produced the product, OR
  • The operation that packaged the product, OR
  • The company for whom it was produced/packaged

More information on where and how these materials need to be labelled, as well as details on the other aspects of labelling, can be found in Section 17. Operations need to read what is expected for both primary and secondary market ready packaging materials and to look at their own packaging materials in order to determine what labelling is required for their situation.

The requirement above has similar wording to the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations (SFCR) which state (Part 11: Labelling requirements for fresh fruits and vegetables):

The name and principal place of business of the person (definition) by or for whom prepackaged fresh fruits or vegetables are manufactured, prepared, produced, stored, packaged or labelled must be declared on the label.

The following guidance is given within the SFCR to outline what is meant by ‘principal place of business’:

The principal place of business must lead to a physical location where the “principal”, or main, “business” can be found. Although a physical location is required to be declared on labels, the legislation does not prescribe the level of detail necessary, nor does it state that a “complete mailing address” is required. The CFIA encourages industry to provide a mailing address that is complete enough so that consumers, who wish to communicate with the “person” in writing, can do so in a timely manner. The best practice is to include the civic address, city, province, postal code and country.

Websites, telephone numbers, and virtual addresses are not acceptable “principal place of business” declarations, as they are not physical locations. Websites are instead examples of Additional information that may be included on a label.

More information on the labelling requirements within the SFCR can be found here: https://inspection.canada.ca/food-label-requirements/labelling/industry/fresh-fruits-and-vegetables/eng/1393800946775/1393801047506?chap=6.

June 28th, 2021 at 09:22 am