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Table 1 The proportion of products with manufacturer stated serving sizes that are equal to, less than, or greater than the Schedule M reference amounts and recommended ranges

From: Unregulated serving sizes on the Canadian nutrition facts table – an invitation for manufacturer manipulations

Food group Number Schedule M Reference Amountsa CFIA Recommended Serving Size Rangesb
< reference amount ═ reference amount > reference amount < recommended serving size within recommended serving size > recommended serving size Among products within the recommended range
Lower-half Upper-half
Bakery Products
 1. Bread 183 67 (37%) 15 (8%) 101 (55%) 2 (1%) 135 (74%) 46 (25%) 65 (48%) 70 (52%)
 2. Bagels, tea biscuits, scones etc. 227 84 (37%) 6 (3%) 137 (60%) 3 (1%) 221 (98%) 3 (1%) 123 (56%) 98 (44%)
 7. Coffee cakes, doughnuts, danishes etc. 89 42 (47%) 6 (7%) 41 (46%) 27 (30%) 57 (64%) 5 (6%) 55 (96%) 2 (4%)
 8. Cookies, graham wafers 294 116 (39%) 63 (22%) 115 (39%) 116 (40%) 166 (56%) 12 (4%) 139 (84%) 27 (16%)
 9. Crackers, hard bread sticks etc. 238 54 (23%) 83 (35%) 101 (42%) 7 (3%) 220 (92%) 11 (5%) 184 (84%) 36 (16%)
 14. Croutons 53 0 (0%) 41 (77%) 12 (23%) 0 (0%) 51 (96%) 2 (4%) 46 (90%) 5 (10%)
 15. French toast, pancakes, and waffles 93 87 (94%) 5 (5%) 1 (1%) 0 (0%) 92 (99%) 1 (1%) 67 (73%) 25 (27%)
 17. Grain-based bars with filling and coating 85 38 (45%) 20 (23%) 27 (32%) 0 (0%) 85 (100%) 0 (0%) 79 (93%) 6 (7%)
 18. Rice cakes and corn cakes 62 39 (63%) 2 (3%) 21 (34%) 2 (3%) 54 (87%) 6 (10%) 39 (73%) 15 (27%)
 19. Pies, tarts, cobblers, turnovers 94 66 (70%) 6 (6%) 22 (24%) 16 (17%) 77 (82%) 1 (1%) 35 (45%) 42 (55%)
Cereals and Other Grain Products
 28. Hot breakfast cereals 57 32 (56%) 5 (9%) 20 (35%) 4 (7%) 33 (58%) 20 (35%) 12 (36%) 21 (64%)
 30. Breakfast cereals without fruit or nuts 85 19 (22%) 51 (60%) 15 (18%) 0 (0%) 85 (100%) 0 (0%) 78 (93%) 7 (7%)
 31. Breakfast cereals with fruit and nuts 145 52 (36%) 66 (46%) 27 (18%) 26 (18%) 119 (82%) 0 (0%) 119 (100%) 0 (0%)
 34. Grains, such as rice or barley 85 10 (12%) 44 (52%) 31 (36%) 0 (0%) 54 (64%) 31 (36%) 7 (13%) 47 (87%)
 35. Pastas without sauce 383 58 (15%) 290 (76%) 35 (9%) 7 (2%) 376 (98%) 0 (0%) 37 (10%) 339 (90%)
Dairy Products and Substitutes
 39. Cheese 380 106 (28%) 246 (65%) 28 (7%) 23 (6%) 357 (94%) 0 (0%) 352 (99%) 5 (1%)
 43. Quark, fresh cheese and fresh dairy desserts 63 62 (98%) 1 (2%) 0 (0%) 57 (90%) 6 (10%) 0 (0%) 6 (100%) 0 (0%)
 49. Plant-based beverages 138 33 (24%) 102 (74%) 3 (2%) 5 (4%) 130 (94%) 3 (2%) 3 (2%) 127 98%)
 52. Yogurt 95 68 (72%) 27 (38%) 0 (0%) 30 (32%) 65 (68%) 0 (0%) 65 (100%) 0 (0%)
Desserts
 53. Ice cream, ice milk, frozen yogurt, sherbet 282 11 (4%) 269 (95%) 2 (1%) 0 (0%) 282 (100%) 0 (0%) 282 (100%) 0 (0%)
 54. Dairy desserts, frozen 97 78 (80%) 6 (6%) 13 (14%) 15 (15%) 82 (85%) 0 (0%) 55 (67%) 27 (33%)
Fats and Oils
 64. Butter, margarine, shortening, lard 91 2 (2%) 88 (97%) 1 (1%) 0 (0%) 91 (100%) 0 (0%) 91 (100%) 0 (0%)
 65. Vegetable oil 105 0 (0%) 82 (78%) 23 (22%) 0 (0%) 105 (100%) 0 (0%) 82 (78%) 23 (22%)
 67. Dressings for salad 227 209 (92%) 18 (8%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 227 (100%) 0 (0%) 209 (92%) 18 (8%)
Marine and Fresh Water Animals
 72. Marine and fresh water animals 132 94 (71%) 13 (10%) 25 (19%) 15 (12%) 94 (71%) 23 (17%) 94 (100%) 0 (0%)
 73. Marine and fresh water animals, canned 116 11 (9%) 16 (14%) 89 (77%) 1 (1%) 106 (91%) 9 (8%) 65 (61%) 41 (39%)
 Fruits and Fruit Juices
 75. Fruit, fresh, canned or frozen 168 129 (77%) 9 (5%) 30 (18%) 7 (4%) 161 (96%) 0 (0%) 122 (76%) 39 (24%)
 77. Dried fruit 69 10 (14%) 47 (68%) 12 (18%) 4 (6%) 53 (77%) 12 (17%) 4 (8%) 49 (92%)
 83. Juices, nectars and fruit drinks 554 155 (28%) 399 (72%) 0 (0%) 82 (15%) 472 (85%) 0 (0%) 63 (13%) 409 (87%)
Legumes
 86. Beans, peas and lentils 78 27 (35%) 50 (64%) 1 (1%) 0 (0%) 77 (99%) 1 (1%) 21 (27%) 56 (73%)
Meat, Poultry, Their Products and Substitutes
 90. Luncheon meats 107 26 (24%) 24 (23%) 57 (53%) 0 (0%) 105 (98%) 2 (2%) 24 (23%) 81 (77%)
 91. Sausages 102 36 (35%) 9 (9%) 57 (56%) 0 (0%) 98 (96%) 4 (4%) 59 (60%) 39 (40%)
 93. Patties, cutlettes, chopettes etc. 103 14 (14%) 27 (26%) 62 (60%) 5 (5%) 65 (63%) 33 (32%) 39 (60%) 26 (40%)
 96. Meat and poultry with sauce 106 80 (75%) 12 (12%) 14 (13%) 6 (6%) 92 (87%) 8 (7%) 54 (59%) 38 (41%)
Miscellaneous category
 99. Bread crumbs and batter mixes 151 22 (15%) 12 (8%) 117 (77%) 3 (2%) 145 (96%) 3 (2%) 56 (39%) 89 (61%)
Combination Dishes
 107. Measurable 366 175 (48%) 27 (7%) 164 (45%) 76 (21%) 282 (77%) 8 (2%) 218 (77%) 64 (23%)
 108. Not measurable 304 144 (48%) 13 (4%) 147 (48%) 25 (8%) 266 (88%) 13 (4%) 223 (84%) 43 (16%)
 109. Hor d’oeuvres 104 39 (38%) 6 (6%) 59 (56%) 2 (2%) 74 (71%) 28 (27%) 57 (77%) 17 (23%)
Nuts and Seeds
 110. Nuts and seeds 67 3 (4%) 24 (36%) 40 (60%) 3 (4%) 64 (96%) 0 (0%) 64 (100%) 0 (0%)
Sauces, Dips, Gravies and Condiments
 120. Sauces for dipping 117 2 (2%) 112 (96%) 3 (2%) 0 (0%) 114 (97%) 3 (3%) 114 (100%) 0 (0%)
 121. Dips 92 36 (39%) 18 (20%) 38 (41%) 1 (1%) 91 (99%) 0 (0%) 82 (90%) 9 (10%)
 122. Major main entree sauce 145 20 (14%) 125 (86%) 0 (0%) 11 (8%) 134 (92%) 0 (0%) 134 (100%) 0 (0%)
 123. Minor main entree sauce 102 39 (38%) 55 (54%) 8 (8%) 36 (35%) 63 (62%) 3 (3%) 61 (97%) 2 (3%)
 124. Major condiments 100 1 (1%) 97 (97%) 2 (2%) 0 (0%) 100 (100%) 0 (0%) 98 (98%) 2 (2%)
 125. Minor condiments 48 0 (0%) 45 (94%) 3 (6%) 0 (0%) 45 (94%) 3 (6%) 45 (100%) 0 (0%)
Snacks
 126. Chips, pretzels, popcorn, extruded snacks 375 147 (39%) 228 (61%) 0 (0%) 82 (22%) 293 (78%) 0 (0%) 293 (100%) 0 (0%)
 127. Nuts or seeds for use as snacks 88 19 (22%) 66 (75%) 3 (3%) 3 (3%) 82 (94%) 3 (3%) 82 (100%) 0 (0%)
 Sugars and Sweets
 137. Jams, jellies, marmalades etc. 145 0 (0%) 143 (99%) 2 (1%) 0 (0%) 143 (99%) 2 (1%) 143 (100%) 0 (0%)
 141. syrups 50 34 (68%) 15 (30%) 1 (2%) 9 (18%) 40 (80%) 1 (2%) 25 (63%) 15 (37%)
Vegetables
 150. Pickles 54 20 (37%) 28 (52%) 6 (11%) N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
All Food Groups 7494 2616 (35%) 3162 (42%) 1716 (23%) 756 (10%) 6429 (86%) 300 (4%) 4470 (70%) 1959 (30%)
  1. aSchedule M of the Nutrition Labelling regulations3 lists reference amounts that are used as the basis for determining qualifying/disqualifying criteria for nutrient content claims and health claims. Their use on the Nutrition Facts table is not mandatory and manufacturers can determine the serving size used on the Nutrition Facts table
  2. bThe CFIA guide suggests recommended serving size ranges for each Schedule M food category, but manufacturer’s adherence to these ranges is not mandatory [13]
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