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WTO notification · SPS

CanadaUpdated: check whether it is now adopted or in force

Proposal to modify the use of caffeine as a supplemental

Official title

Proposal to modify the use of caffeine as a supplemental ingredient

Canada issued an addendum on 1 December 2025 to the earlier SPS notification G/SPS/N/CAN/1592. Addenda often report that a measure was adopted, changed, postponed or withdrawn. The measure was first notified on 11 March 2025. The comment period closed on 21 May 2025.

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Source: WTO ePing (opens in a new tab). Summaries by Expodite, which is independent of the WTO.

Published here:

Updated here:

At a glance

Products

Caffeine; Hard, soft, or semi-soft candies

Notifying member
Canada
Status
Updated: check whether it is now adopted or in force
Objectives
  • Food safety
Area
SPS: Food safety, animal and plant healthSanitary and phytosanitary measures
Notification type
Regular notification
Document symbol
G/SPS/N/CAN/1592Latest notice: G/SPS/N/CAN/1592/Add.1
Keywords
Human health, Food safety, Adoption/publication/entry into force of reg.

Key dates

Distributed by the WTO
Comment deadline
Closed on 21 May 2025
Proposed adoption
The proposed modifications will be legally enabled once published in the List of Permitted Supplemental Ingredients.
Proposed entry into force
Modifications to the List of Permitted Supplemental Ingredients come into force the day they are made to the list.

How to comment

The comment period closed on 21 May 2025. You can still raise concerns about the measure with your country's WTO SPS enquiry point, quoting the document symbol G/SPS/N/CAN/1592/Add.1; it can take them up with Canada.

Find your country's enquiry point on WTO ePing (opens in a new tab)

What the notification says

Latest notice (⁨G/SPS/N/CAN/1592/Add.1⁩, 1 December 2025)

Modification to the List of Permitted Supplemental Ingredients to extend the use of caffeine

Health Canada's Food and Nutrition Directorate has modified the List of Permitted Supplemental Ingredients to authorize the use of caffeine as a supplemental ingredient in foods listed in item 6 of the List of Permitted Supplemented Food Categories (and to require that all solid supplemented foods with high caffeine content be labelled to indicate that another source of caffeine should not be consumed on the same day. These modifications come into force on 25 November 2025, the day of its publication in the List of Permitted Supplemental Ingredients. However, given that the changes related to the addition of the new cautionary statement fall within the scope of the joint Health Canada and Canadian Food Inspection Agency Food Labelling Coordination policy, Health Canada is giving industry until 1 January 2028 to implement the labelling change for products affected by the modification to items (4), (6), and (7). The purpose of this information document is to publicly announce the Department's decision and action in this regard and to provide the appropriate contact information for those wishing to submit comments, inquiries or new scientific information relevant to the modification.

The Food and Nutrition Directorate received a request to modify the List of Permitted Supplemental Ingredients (to allow the use of synthetic caffeine (caffeine anhydrous) in 'gummies with a texture spanning from hard to soft' in a maximum amount of 100 mg per serving under the same conditions of use set out for caffeine as a supplemental ingredient in chocolate confectioneries. No safety concerns were identified regarding the use of caffeine in foods belonging to the category listed in item 6 of the List of Permitted Supplemented Food Categories (under the same conditions as already permitted for caffeine as a supplemental ingredient in foods listed in item 7 of the same List, provided that products containing more than 56 mg of caffeine carry the label statement 'Do not [eat/drink] on the same day as any other source of caffeine' to caution consumers against consuming these products and other sources of caffeine on the same day. To prevent excessive caffeine intake, Health Canada proposed that the statement 'Do not [eat/drink] on the same day as any other source of caffeine' be required for all solid supplemented foods, including candies, but also chocolate confectioneries, protein-isolate- and cereal-based bars, and chewing gums, when the food contains more than 56 mg caffeine per serving (or more than 56 mg per multiple-serving pre-packaged product, in the case of chewing gums). Therefore, Health Canada proposes modifying the List of Permitted Supplemental Ingredients…

Notices on this measure

Every notice about this measure published here, newest first. Each one is the notifying member's own text.

  1. AddendumG/SPS/N/CAN/1592/Add.1

    Modification to the List of Permitted Supplemental Ingredients to extend the use of caffeine

    Health Canada's Food and Nutrition Directorate has modified the List of Permitted Supplemental Ingredients to authorize the use of caffeine as a supplemental ingredient in foods listed in item 6 of the List of Permitted Supplemented Food Categories (and to require that all solid supplemented foods with high caffeine content be labelled to indicate that another source of caffeine should not be consumed on the same day. These modifications come into force on 25 November 2025, the day of its publication in the List of Permitted Supplemental Ingredients. However, given that the changes related to the addition of the new cautionary statement fall within the scope of the joint Health Canada and Canadian Food Inspection Agency Food Labelling Coordination policy, Health Canada is giving industry until 1 January 2028 to implement the labelling change for products affected by the modification to items (4), (6), and (7). The purpose of this information document is to publicly announce the Department's decision and action in this regard and to provide the appropriate contact information for those wishing to submit comments, inquiries or new scientific information relevant to the modification.

    Open on WTO ePing (opens in a new tab)Official WTO document (opens in a new tab)

  2. Regular notificationG/SPS/N/CAN/1592

    Comment deadline: Closed on 21 May 2025

    Proposal to modify the use of caffeine as a supplemental ingredient

    The Food and Nutrition Directorate received a request to modify the List of Permitted Supplemental Ingredients (to allow the use of synthetic caffeine (caffeine anhydrous) in 'gummies with a texture spanning from hard to soft' in a maximum amount of 100 mg per serving under the same conditions of use set out for caffeine as a supplemental ingredient in chocolate confectioneries. No safety concerns were identified regarding the use of caffeine in foods belonging to the category listed in item 6 of the List of Permitted Supplemented Food Categories (under the same conditions as already permitted for caffeine as a supplemental ingredient in foods listed in item 7 of the same List, provided that products containing more than 56 mg of caffeine carry the label statement 'Do not [eat/drink] on the same day as any other source of caffeine' to caution consumers against consuming these products and other sources of caffeine on the same day. To prevent excessive caffeine intake, Health Canada proposed that the statement 'Do not [eat/drink] on the same day as any other source of caffeine' be required for all solid supplemented foods, including candies, but also chocolate confectioneries, protein-isolate- and cereal-based bars, and chewing gums, when the food contains more than 56 mg caffeine per serving (or more than 56 mg per multiple-serving pre-packaged product, in the case of chewing gums). Therefore, Health Canada proposes modifying the List of Permitted Supplemental Ingredients…

    Open on WTO ePing (opens in a new tab)Official WTO document (opens in a new tab)

Sources

Expodite writes its summary from the official record. The notification and the documents it notifies are on the WTO's own websites.

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