What Canada’s new supplement labels still won’t tell you
As part of Canada’s push to make the $13 billion natural health market more transparent, vitamin and mineral supplements will soon be labelled as clearly as a bag of chips.
The industry is divided over the new labeling requirements. Large supplement manufacturers have already absorbed the changes, while smaller companies are feeling the strain and still scrambling to adapt.
Nearly half of Canadians take an herbal or nutritional supplement daily, a habit that surged early on in the pandemic as people turned to alternative remedies.
“There’s so much misinformation about supplements,” says Timothy Caulfield, a University of Alberta law professor who studies health misinformation. He says the supplement space has become one of the biggest drivers of health-related falsehoods online. “The marketing of supplements has also become … one of the primary ways that the health misinformation ecosystem is funded.”
Caulfield added, “That’s not to say there aren’t legit products out there.”
In response to complaints from health and patient safety advocates, Health Canada updated its Natural Health Products Regulations in 2022 to tighten product labelling requirements. Companies have until 2028 to adopt the new standards, which include clearer allergen listings, more readable packaging and a facts table similar to the ones on food labels.
Jamieson Wellness Inc., one of Canada’s largest supplement manufacturers, says the existing system already requires strong evidence for any health claims.
Companies must submit studies to Health Canada to support a product’s safety and efficacy, says Ruth Winker, Jamieson’s vice president of corporate affairs and investor relations.
Jamieson has expressed support for the new labelling rules.
But Caitlyn Vanderhaeghe, president and CEO of KidStar Nutrients, says redesigning product labels isn’t cheap.
KidStar and other companies have expressed cost concerns with the new rules, so Health Canada is giving them until June 2028 to adjust before compliance becomes mandatory. Vanderhaeghe says the transition is particularly challenging for small companies, in part because the rules might change again before 2028. “It’s very hard for us.”
Vanderhaeghe wants to display marketing messages such as “no artificial preservatives” and “no added sugars” on her company’s products, but she says smaller labels and peel-back designs make these less visible to consumers.
Caulfield says the real problem isn’t the packaging but the language used to sell products. “They use wiggle words like ‘enhance’ and ‘promote’ in order to give the very strong impression that these products are clearly efficacious, despite the fact the evidence doesn't support that.”
Certain health claims are already banned under the Food and Drugs Act, which prohibits advertising products as treatments for depression, obesity, and other conditions. But vague claims such as “supports immune function” or “helps maintain cognitive health” remain largely untouched.
Labels don’t always match what’s in the bottle. Health Canada allows a 20 per cent variance between the label and the actual contents of supplements because the potency of natural products degrades over time. A supplement listed at 100mg of an active ingredient can actually contain closer to 80mg or 120mg.
“This is considered an acceptable level of variance from the amount declared on the label,” said Health Canada spokesperson André Gagnon in an email.
Caulfield says the new rules still don’t address the biggest gap of all: whether supplements actually work. “I'm glad that we're seeing more transparency, but we need so much more.”
Hanan Hammad is a writer and strategist exploring how communication and innovation shape public understanding, particularly around health misinformation. She has worked across public, corporate and research sectors, contributing to organizations including Deloitte and the Canadian Human Rights Commission. She is currently a fellow in Journalism & Health Impact at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health.
