Home » Clear on Calories » Clear on Calories Q and A

What is Clear on Calories?

Clear on Calories is a voluntary beverage industry commitment to making the number of calories in our products even more clear and consumer-friendly, helping Canadians to make informed beverage choices.

What will the initiative involve?

With Clear on Calories, we will be putting the caloric information of our products at consumers' fingertips.  Consumers will now be able to find caloric information on the front of bottles and beverage containers, on vending machines and on member company fountain machines.

How does this differ from the nutritional panel?

This will focus on calories alone and will call out the caloric information right on the front of the package or on the machine so you know at a glance the amount of calories in that product.

Will front of pack labelling make a difference?

Definitely - with Clear on Calories, we are putting the caloric information of our products at the consumers' fingertips, making it easy to read and easy to find.  By having it on the front of bottles and beverage containers, on vending machines and on member company fountain machines, Canadians can have immediate access to the caloric content of the beverages they are purchasing and they'll be able to choose the beverage that best meets their tastes and refreshment needs.

What companies are involved in thi s program?

The supporting member companies include Canada Dry Mott's, Coca-Cola Refreshments Canada, Cott Beverages Canada, Nestle Waters Canada and PepsiCo Beverages Canada.

Will it be in English and French?

Yes, it will be in English and French.

Why are you doing this?

The Clear on Calories initiative builds on a series of concrete, meaningful actions already taken by Canada's beverage industry to responsibly market our products and to be part of the solution in addressing the complex issue of obesity.  

Another example is that 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%. 

Am I still going to have to determine how many servings are in the bottle, etc.?

The labeling will be very simple to read and understand.

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 will be labelled per 250 ml serving size, and sports drinks and bottled waters over 750 ml will be labelled per 500 ml serving size.

Will the label be easy to read and understand?

It will be very easy to read and understand - a clearly defined area will call out the exact number of calories per serving or container.

Why can't they put the calorie content on the fountain cups?

Unfortunately this isn't practical.  The cups are used for a variety of different beverages but by having the information by the fountain machines we feel that this will meet the needs of the consumer.

Will the front of pack be the same as the nutritional panel on the back?

The nutritional panel on the back of the container will continue to provide all of the appropriate nutritional facts.  The label on the front of the container will only identify the caloric content.

Is this going to be Canada wide?

Yes.

When will it be rolling out?

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.

Why will it take so long?

The process of changing labels and equipment across our national market-place is a long and expensive one and there are thousands of items involved.  We need to ensure that our members have the time necessary to clear out existing labels and equipment, redesign new ones and then get them into production.

Why are there still different serving sizes?

Where possible we have tried to have a common serving sizing but Health Canada defines serving sizes differently by type of beverage.