Canada Considers Positive List Approach For Food Contact Substances

Health Canada has opened a public consultation on a proposed overhaul of how food packaging materials and articles are regulated in Canada. As discussed more fully in our StepLadder Series article, and under the current regulatory framework, Health Canada requires that a food-contact material or article shall be safe for the intended use when food contained in such material or article is placed on the market for sale in Canada. There is no affirmative requirement, however, that Health Canada conduct a safety evaluation (except in limited circumstances). Instead, Health Canada reviews the safety of a food-contact material for its intended use only when a company voluntarily submits a request for a Letter of No Objection (LONO).

In Health Canada’s consultation document, Health Canada has indicated concern that the permissive implementation of this safety standard – and the reliance on industry to enforce the same on its own initiative – leaves the Agency unable to see, let alone respond to, potential safety issues related to the use of a full range of chemicals, individually or cumulatively, in food packaging nationwide—a gap it wants to close.¹

In response, Health Canada is considering the implementation of a mandatory notification requirement, whereby companies would notify Health Canada of intended uses of food-contact materials and articles through a new online portal. Under one possible framework, the portal would contain, among other items, many of the same details that are currently requested for voluntary LONO submissions: the identity and composition of a food packaging substance; its intended use; the potential presence of the substance in the diet; relevant safety information; and the expected distribution of the substance across the Canadian market – including uses in food service ware such as containers, straws, and utensils sold with prepared food. Notifications would be checked against a new public "knowledgebase" of past safety evaluations. Where a notification matches the "knowledgebase," the notifier would receive a Notification Number and abbreviated LONO. A non-match could trigger a full Health Canada review (if the outcome is favorable, the request would also result in addition to the knowledgebase).

Two important design questions remain under the proposed framework: who in the supply chain must notify Health Canada of an intended use, and whether the knowledgebase becomes binding regulation (a de facto "positive list")² or remains non-binding guidance. Under either outcome, Health Canada has stressed that sellers will remain legally responsible for food packaging safety under existing law.

Health Canada has proposed a roughly five-year phase-in period, with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) continuing to handle enforcement alongside Health Canada. Comments on the current consultation are due October 9, 2026; a second consultation is expected to occur between November 2026 and January 2027, with internal recommendations targeted for Spring 2027 and any formal regulation to follow under Canada’s standard rulemaking process.

Given the significant potential change in scope of regulation, food packaging companies that do business in Canada or intend to do so in the near future should strongly consider submitting LONO requests for current applications (insofar as existing LONOs could potentially be grandfathered into any forthcoming positive list), as well as comments to Health Canada regarding proposed implementation. Steptoe’s Global Food Contact Materials Team stands ready to support companies in both regards. 

Footnotes

1. Health Canada, Bureau of Chemical Safety Food and Nutrition Directorate, Health Products & Food Branch, Consultation: proposed food packaging framework, 1, 2 (2026).

2. Id. at 3.