Home » Clear on Calories » Clear on Calories: The Canadian Calorie Label Initiative

Clear on Calories is a voluntary, national industry initiative that will put calorie information at consumer fingertips at every point of purchase. This initiative recognizes Canadians need for clear, consistent and more user friendly caloric information on the beverages they consume.

Supporting Member Companies:
Canada Dry Motts, Coca-Cola Refreshments Canada, Cott Beverages Canada, Nestle Waters Canada and PepsiCo Beverages Canada.

Timing:
The new packaging labels will begin appearing on store shelves beginning in mid 2011, followed by vending and fountain drink dispensers and will be completed by the end of 2013.

The Labelling Commitment:
Calorie counts will be displayed in the following ways:

1. Product Labels
   • All single serve beverage containers, up to and including 591 ml, will display the total calorie count on the front of all containers
   • Multi-serve packaging for beverages, larger than 591 ml, will be labelled per 355 ml serving except for 100% juices, juice beverages, sports drinks and bottled water as per Health Canada's requirements,
   • Juices and fruit drinks will be labelled per 250 ml serving size
   • Sports drinks and bottled waters greater than 750 ml will be considered multi-serve and will be labelled per 500 ml serving size.
2. Company-controlled Vending Machines:
   • Total calorie counts per container will be displayed on selection buttons (or when infeasible, in close proximity to the specific selection).
3. Company-controlled Fountain Equipment:
   • For consumer-facing fountain equipment calorie counts will be displayed prominently using a 355 ml serving size for carbonated soft drinks and other beverages, 500 ml serving size for sports drinks and 250 ml serving size for juices and fruit drinks.

Calorie Label Design and Placement:
To meet the objectives of this initiative, the beverage companies have agreed to use a uniform calorie label, consistent in both design and location.

Shape: A tablet shape will surround the calorie information to enhance the prominence of the calorie label.

Color: A solid color will be used for the text and a contrasting solid colour for the tablet. The colours for the tablet and content may vary among brands to fit their color schemes.

Placement: The calorie label will be clearly visible to consumers on the front of the package. It will be placed on the lower third of the principle display panel, adjacent to the net contents declaration and without intervening text. Some containers, such as juice cartons, may require a moderate adjustment in the location to accommodate alignment challenges.

Background:
The Clear on Calories initiative builds on a series of concrete, meaningful actions taken by Canada's non-alcoholic beverage industry to responsibly market their products and help promote healthy active lifestyles which includes making informed beverage choices.

These actions include:

• Through product innovation such as zero-calorie, low-calorie, reduced-calorie and portion-controlled beverages we have reduced the amount of full calorie beverages in the marketplace by 25%.
• Refreshments Canada members have committed to global marketing standards that prevent marketing of beverages - other than fruit juice, milk and water - in programming targeted to children under the age of 12. In addition, many beverage companies participate in the Children's Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative, which further limits marketing to children.
• Through our Industry Guidelines for the Sale of Beverages in Schools, we have delivered on our commitment to remove full-calorie soft drinks and provide more lower-calorie, nutritious, and smaller-portion beverage options in elementary, middle and secondary schools nationwide.

For more information, contact:
Stephanie Baxter
Canadian Beverage Association
Work: (416) 362-2424
stephanie@canadianbeverage.ca
www.canadianbeverage.ca 

Media for Clear on Calories: The Canadian Calorie Label Initiative

• Clear on Calories July 28, 2011 (1.6 MB PDF)