Product labelling
Although some products, such as food and cosmetics, contain ingredient labels to tell us what’s in them, many of the products that we buy in Canada don’t. This means we can’t make informed choices on whether to use them.
Currently in Canada, manufacturers of consumer products such as household cleaning products or electronics do not have to list ingredients but they may list this information on their products voluntarily. They should also offer this information if you ask for it.
The Canadian Cancer Society believes that Canadians have the right to know:
- what’s in the products we use – through ingredient disclosure, which is a listing of what’s in the product
- if a product contains a potentially cancer-causing substance – by a warning symbol
What is product labelling?
There are 2 key aspects to consumer product labelling in Canada:
- Ingredient disclosure – the ingredients in food and in cosmetic products must be listed on the product packaging in descending order (from highest to lowest), according to the amount of each ingredient.
- Warning symbols – warning symbols appear on products that pose acute, or short-term, health risks or hazards.
Consumers are made aware of acute health risks and hazards associated with the products they buy through a visual warning label system using symbols such as:
- the skull and crossbones that warn that a product is possibly poisonous
- the skeletal hand that warns that a product can cause a chemical burn
Globally Harmonized System (GHS)
The Globally Harmonized System, an internationally agreed-upon system created by the United Nations, has a goal that the same set of rules for classifying the hazards of chemical products will be adopted and used around the world, to be communicated through product labels.
The GHS does not call for full ingredient disclosure but does include a hazard symbol system for products that pose chronic health risks. Canada committed to the implementation of the GHS almost 10 years ago but this process hasn’t been completed.
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