Food and Drug Regulations

B.01.012 (1) In this section,

local government unit

local government unit means a city, metropolitan government area, town, village, municipality or other area of local government but does not include any local government unit situated within a bilingual district established under the Official Languages Act; (collectivité locale)

local food

local food means a food that is manufactured, processed, produced or packaged in a local government unit and sold only in

• (a) the local government unit in which it is manufactured, processed or packaged,

• (b) one or more local government units that are immediately adjacent to the one in which it is manufactured, processed, produced or packaged, or

• (c) the local government unit in which it is manufactured, processed, produced or packaged and in one or more local government units that are immediately adjacent to the one in which it is manufactured, processed, produced or packaged; (produit alimentaire local)

mother tongue

mother tongue means the language first learned in childhood by persons in any area of Canada and still understood by them as ascertained by the decennial census taken immediately preceding the date on which the food referred to in subsection (3) is sold to the consumer; (langue maternelle)

official languages

official languages means the English language and the French language; (langues officielles)

specialty food

specialty food means a food — other than a human milk fortifier — that

• (a) has special religious significance and is used in religious ceremonies; or

• (b) is an imported food

  • (i) that is not widely used by the population as a whole in Canada, and

  • (ii) for which there is no readily available substitute that is manufactured, processed, produced or packaged in Canada and that is generally accepted as being a comparable substitute; (aliment spécial)

test market food

test market food means a food that, prior to the date of the notice of intention respecting that food referred to in subsection (5), was not sold in Canada in that form and that differs substantially from any other food sold in Canada with respect to its composition, function, state or packaging form and includes a food referred to in section B.01.054. (produit alimentaire d’essai)

(2) Subject to subsections (9), (10) and (11), all information required by these Regulations to be shown on the label of a food shall be shown in both official languages.

(3) Subject to subsections (4) to (6), subsection (2) does not apply to a local food or test market food if

• (a) it is sold in a local government unit in which one of the official languages is the mother tongue of less than 10 per cent of the total number of persons residing in the local government unit; and

• (b) the information required by these Regulations to be shown on the label of a food is shown in the official language that is the mother tongue of at least 10 per cent of the total number of persons residing in the local government unit.

(4) Where one of the official languages is the mother tongue of less than 10 per cent of the total number of persons residing in a local government unit and the other official language is the mother tongue of less than 10 per cent of the total number of persons residing in the same local government unit, subsection (3) does not apply.

(5) Subsection (3) does not apply to a test market food unless the person who intends to conduct the test marketing of the food has, six weeks prior to conducting the test marketing, filed with the President of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency a notice of intention in a form acceptable to the President.

(6) A test market food shall, for the purposes of subsection (3), cease to be a test market food upon the expiration of 12 cumulative months after the date on which it was first offered for sale as a test market food but any test market food that was acquired for resale by a person, other than the person who filed the notice of intention referred to in subsection (5), before the expiration of those 12 cumulative months, shall continue to be a test market food for the purposes of subsection (3) until it is sold.

(7) Subsection (2) does not apply to a specialty food if the information required by these Regulations to be shown on the label thereon is shown in one of the official languages.

(8) Where there are one or more surfaces on the label of a food that are of at least the same size and prominence as the principal display panel, the information required by these Regulations to be shown on the principal display panel may be shown in one official language if such information is shown in the other official language on one of those other surfaces.

(9) Subsection (2) does not apply to the identity and principal place of business of the person by or for whom the food was manufactured, processed, produced or packaged for resale if this information is shown in one of the official languages.

(10) Subsection (2) does not apply to the following common names if the common name appears on the principal display panel in the following manner:

(11) Subsection (2) does not apply to the label of a shipping container destined to a commercial or industrial enterprise or an institution, if

• (a) the shipping container and its contents are not resold as a one unit prepackaged product to a consumer at the retail level; and

• (b) all information required by these Regulations to be shown on a label of a food is shown in one of the official languages.