A US Nutrition Facts panel is not a Canadian Nutrition Facts table with the spelling changed. The two regulators differ on who needs a label, the nutrient list and order, language, serving size rules, Daily Values, and rounding. If you sell in both countries, you need a label for each, generated from that country's rules.
Canada: most prepackaged food, with exemptions by product and venue and no exemption for business size. US: most packaged food, with a small business exemption (gross sales of $500,000 or less, or fewer than 100 employees and fewer than 100,000 units with an annual notice). In both countries, a nutrient content or health claim ends the exemption.
Both start with Calories and fat. After that they diverge. The Canadian core list is Fat (Saturated and Trans), Carbohydrate (Fibre and Sugars), Protein, Cholesterol, Sodium, Potassium, Calcium, and Iron. The US list is Total Fat (Saturated and Trans), Cholesterol, Sodium, Total Carbohydrate (Dietary Fiber, Total Sugars, Added Sugars), Protein, Vitamin D, Calcium, Iron, and Potassium. Added Sugars and Vitamin D are mandatory in the US and not in Canada. The US panel also declares servings per container.
Canada: mandatory information, including the table, in English and French, as one bilingual table or two matching tables, with narrow exemptions for local, specialty, and test market foods. US: English. Other languages may be added, and then the required information must appear in each.
Both base the serving on a regulated reference quantity: Health Canada's Table of Reference Amounts for Food, and the FDA's Reference Amounts Customarily Consumed. Both declare a household measure followed by the metric amount. The tables are maintained separately and do not always agree, so the same product can carry a different serving size in each country.
Each regulator sets its own Daily Values, and they differ for some nutrients, so the % Daily Value column cannot be copied across.
Both round, by different tables. Canada shows protein under 0.5 g to the nearest 0.1 g, where the US shows "less than 1 g". Canada rounds carbohydrate between 0.5 g and 1 g up to 1 g, where the US may show "less than 1 g". Calories and sodium happen to round the same way in both. Copying values from one label to the other produces a label that is wrong in at least one country.
Different typography rules, different box layouts, different footnotes. Each regulator publishes its own formats (Health Canada's Directory of Nutrition Facts Table Formats, and 21 CFR 101.9(d) for the FDA), and neither accepts the other's.
Educational content only; not legal advice. Confirm the final label against current regulations for your product and jurisdiction.
Generate a print-ready FDA or CFIA Nutrition Facts label for any recipe in minutes. Free.