Nutrition facts tables

A nutrition facts table can help you make informed food choices when grocery shopping and preparing food at home. Learn about what is in a nutrition facts table and how to use it.

Foods that do not have a nutrition facts table

By law, most packaged food in Canada must have a nutrition facts table. However, the following foods do not need to have a nutrition facts table:

• fresh vegetables and fruit
• raw meat and poultry (except when it is ground)
• raw seafood
• one-bite confections that are individually sold
• milk sold in refillable glass containers
• individual servings of food meant to be eaten immediately
• foods prepared or processed in-store made from its ingredients, such as:
  • bakery items
  • salads

Other exceptions include:

• beverages with an alcohol content over 0.5%
• foods, prepared, processed and sold at a:
  • road-side stand
  • craft show
  • flea market
  • fair
  • farmers' market
  • sugar bush

You will not find a nutrition facts table on foods that contain very few nutrients, such as:

• coffee
• tea
• vinegar
• spices

Restaurants and food service businesses also do not need to provide a nutrition facts table with their products.

How to use a nutrition facts table

The information in a nutrition facts table is based on the serving size. Serving size can be found at the top of the nutrition facts table.

You can use a nutrition facts table to compare the serving size to the amount of food you actually eat.

For example, the serving size of bread in a nutrition facts table could be 1 slice. But if you eat 2 slices, you need to double the amount of calories and nutrients.

A nutrition facts table can also be used to:

• learn about a food's nutritional value (calories and nutrients)
• see if a food contains a little (5% DV or less) or a lot (15% DV or more) of a nutrient
• compare 2 products to make informed food choices
• better manage special food needs such as a low-sodium diet

Interactive nutrition facts table

Select any item in the table to find out more.