To make it easier to identify less nutritious foods, products with high levels of saturated fat, sugar, or sodium will be required to display a warning on the front of their packaging starting in January 2026. If the nutritional composition of the best-selling processed foods in Quebec remains unchanged by then, 60% of them will be required to display this warning, according to a study published in the journal Public Health Nutrition.

This article is based on data collected by the Observatory, which contains information on the nutritional composition of thousands of processed foods sold in grocery stores and supermarkets across Quebec. By cross-referencing this information with the NielsenIQ database—which tracks product sales based on barcodes—the researchers were able to paint a picture of the nutritional quality of 3,941 processed foods — sliced bread, breakfast cereals, ready-to-serve soups, pizzas, crackers, frozen meals, cookies, sliced processed meats, etc. — that are most frequently found in the grocery baskets of Quebec households.

To read the full article on ULaval News (French only): nouvelles.ulaval.ca/2025/05/06/avertissement-eleve-en-sur-le-devant-des-emballages:-60percent-des-aliments-transformes-seraient-touches