Food compositional standards provide consumers with predictability of composition for specific foods, for example jam, Camembert cheese, bread or beer. In addition, standards are intended to protect consumers from fraudulent products and to help them make purchasing decisions. Foods that are subject to the requirements of a standard are referred to as “standardized foods.”

The non-health and safety components of food compositional standards (such as ingredients requirements) under the FDR apply to food products traded inter-provincially or imported into Canada.

Beer, ale, stout, porter and malt liquor compositional standards

Many alcoholic beverages including beer have compositional standards prescribed in Division 2 of the FDR. Those alcoholic beverages are considered standardized. For example, there is one compositional standard for beer, and previously another standard, nearly identical, for ale, stout, porter and malt liquor.

Beer will continue to be exempted from the requirement to show a list of ingredients, as are all standardized alcoholic beverages. Beer was also exempted from declaring food allergen sources, gluten sources and added sulphites on the label but will no lo