Declaring flavours on Canadian food labels: what belongs in the ingredient list

Canada's Food and Drug Regulations allow certain ingredient groups to appear under a permitted class name rather than by each individual constituent. "Flavour" and "artificial flavour" sit in that group, which is why a 0.05% dosage of a complex twenty-component preparation can appear as a single line in the ingredient list.

The permission covers flavouring constituents. It does not automatically extend to everything that arrives in the drum. Carriers, anticaking agents, preservatives and colour that travel with the preparation are assessed on their own footing, and several must be named individually even when the flavour itself does not.

The three recurring findings we see in supplier audits are undeclared carriers (maltodextrin, propylene glycol, modified starch, gum arabic), undeclared preservative systems in liquid flavours, and priority allergens that entered through a natural extract or a dairy-derived reaction flavour.

Priority allergens, gluten sources and added sulphites must be declared regardless of how small the contribution is. Ask every flavour supplier for a written allergen statement tied to the specific item code, not to the product family, and re-request it whenever the supplier revises the formula.

A workable file for each flavour code contains the technical data sheet, a composition and carrier breakdown, allergen and gluten statements, a non-GMO or organic certificate where claimed, kosher and halal certificates where claimed, a Certificate of Analysis format, and confirmation of compliance with Canadian permitted-use requirements.

Bilingual labelling is a separate obligation: the ingredient list, common name and mandatory statements must appear in both English and French on most prepackaged foods sold in Canada. Confirm the French common name of any carrier at the same time you approve the English one — retrofitting it after artwork is signed off is where launch dates slip.