Allergens on a beer label in Canada: the "Contains" statement

In Canada, the barley in your beer has to be on the label. Beer needs no list of ingredients, but it isn't exempt from declaring allergens, gluten sources and added sulphites – the exemption in the Food and Drug Regulations covers only foods such as restaurant portions and bulk packs, not standardized drinks like beer (FDR B.01.010.1(4)). The CFIA puts it plainly: "prepackaged beers are required to declare food allergen sources (such as wheat), gluten sources (such as barley) and added sulphites".

So almost every beer sold in Canada carries a "Contains" statement, in English and in French. Like the rest of the label, it has to be in both languages. This guide covers what goes in it and how it must look.

What has to be declared

The regulations name three groups (FDR B.01.010.1(1) and B.01.010.2), and the name to use for each source is set too (B.01.010.1(6) and (7), B.01.010.2(6)):

Wheat and triticale are both allergens and gluten sources. The CFIA's examples name wheat once.

Barley, wheat, oats and rye. Every beer is brewed with barley or wheat malt – that is in the standard for beer – so every beer declares at least one of them. Oats in an oatmeal stout, rye in a rye IPA and unmalted wheat in a witbier are declared too. Each source is named only once, however many malts it comes from (B.01.010.3(2)).

Milk. A milk stout or pastry stout with lactose declares milk.

Nuts. Tree nuts are named one by one, so a brown ale with hazelnuts says "Hazelnuts", not "tree nuts".

Sulphites. Only sulphites that were added count, so the ones your yeast makes don't (B.01.010.2(2)). Added sulphites are declared when the beer contains 10 parts per million or more in total (B.01.010.2(3)) – they can come from potassium metabisulphite you add yourself or from a sulphited fruit purée, so ask your supplier how much is in it.

Finings. The regulations have no exemption for fining agents: the only exemptions are for cross-contamination and for the foods in B.01.008(2)(a) to (e) (B.01.010.1(3) and (4)). Australia exempts isinglass in beer from its allergen rules; Canada's regulations say nothing of the kind. If you fine with isinglass (fish), egg white or casein (milk), ask the CFIA whether your beer must declare them.

The "Contains" statement

Without a list of ingredients, the sources go in a "food allergen source, gluten source and added sulphites statement" – the "Contains" statement (B.01.010.1(2), B.01.010.3):

• The title is "Contains", "Contains:" or "Contains :" in English and "Contient" or "Contient :" in French, in bold, with nothing between it and the sources.
• Each source starts with a capital letter and continues in lower case, separated by commas or bullets. The sources may be in regular or bold type.
• The English and French versions don't start on the same line, unless the label's available display surface is under 100 cm² (B.01.010.3(3)).

Contains: Barley, Wheat

Contient : Orge, Blé

It also has a fixed look, the same as a list of ingredients (B.01.008.1 and B.01.008.2(2)):

• one colour, the visual equivalent of 100% black, on a white background or a uniform neutral background with at most a 5% tint of colour – your label's colours don't apply here
• one standard, non-decorative sans-serif font, characters that don't touch each other or the border, not scaled down horizontally
• an x-height of at least 1.1 mm and line spacing of at least 2.5 mm; the title may be larger
• a solid-line border round it (or solid lines above, below or beside it) in the colour of the type, or a background that contrasts with the label around it

The CFIA notes that 1.1 mm is about 6-point type in a sans-serif font (CFIA). Like the rest of the required information, the statement can't be only on the bottom (B.01.005).

Examples from common beer styles

If you add a list of ingredients anyway

Once a list of ingredients is on the label, it must follow the rules for lists. It is introduced by a bold "Ingredients" / "Ingrédients" title, ingredients go in descending order of weight, each starting with a capital letter, separated by commas or bullets, in the same black-on-white box (B.01.008.2). The allergen or gluten source then goes in brackets in lower case right after the ingredient it comes from – "Lactose (milk)" – unless the ingredient's name already says it, as "barley malt" does (B.01.010.1(8) and (10)).

You may still add a "Contains" statement right after the list. If you do, it must name every source again, even those already in the list (B.01.010.3(1)(a.1) and (b)):

Ingredients: Water, Barley malt, Oat flakes (oats), Lactose (milk), Hops, Yeast

Contains: Barley, Oats, Milk

"May contain"

A precautionary statement about cross-contamination is voluntary. If you use one, it goes right after the "Contains" statement, in the same box, in both languages if the statement before it is (B.01.010.4(1)). Health Canada and the CFIA encourage the title "May contain:" / "Peut contenir :". The CFIA describes it for when, despite all reasonable measures, there is a risk of an allergen getting in unintentionally – for example, in a brewery that also brews with nuts.

Cider, mead and fruit wine

Cider that meets its standard (apple juice, 2.5 to 13% alcohol, section 2.8.1 of volume 2 of the Canadian Food Compositional Standards) needs no list of ingredients, and neither does honey wine (section 2.7.7) or fruit wine (section 2.7.3) (FDR B.01.008(2)(f)). The allergen rules apply to them just as to beer. A plain cider usually declares only sulphites; its standard allows albumen (egg) and casein (milk) as fining agents, so ask the CFIA if you use them.

Step outside the standard and a full list of ingredients is needed (FDR B.01.008(1)(b)). The standard for cider doesn't list hops or other fruit, and the standard for honey wine doesn't list fruit or malt – so a hopped cider, a melomel or a braggot needs a list, with barley named in a braggot.

"Gluten-free"

No food may be labelled or advertised so as to create the impression that it is gluten-free if it contains any gluten protein from barley, oats, rye, triticale or wheat (FDR B.24.018). The CFIA objects to "gluten-free" on any beer brewed from those grains, even when it has been treated to remove gluten, because current tests can't show the gluten is gone (CFIA). "Low gluten" and "reduced gluten" aren't accepted either, and claims such as "crafted to remove gluten" or "deglutenized" are treated as implying them.

For a beer treated to remove gluten, the CFIA accepts only this statement, unemphasized and not repeated, with evidence of the method and the test results on file:

This product is fermented from grains containing gluten and [processed or treated or crafted] to remove gluten. The gluten content of this product cannot be verified, and this product may contain gluten.

A drink brewed from sorghum, rice or millet may be called gluten-free if all its ingredients are gluten-free and nothing cross-contaminates it. But the beer standard requires barley or wheat malt, so it can't use "beer" as its common name: it needs a name that describes it and a list of ingredients. A gluten-free claim on its own doesn't bring in a Nutrition Facts table.

A way to work

Go through the recipe one ingredient at a time – malts, adjuncts, finings, fruit, spices and anything added at packaging – and check each against the table above. Name every cereal, including the barley; add sulphites if the total added reaches 10 ppm. Then set the "Contains" and "Contient" lines in black on white in their own box, at least 1.1 mm high.

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Last checked: 22 October 2026

This guide explains labelling and is not legal advice. Rules can change – if you sell your drink, check with the CFIA and your provincial liquor board.

Sources

• Justice Laws Website: Food and Drug Regulations, C.R.C., c. 870 (B.01.005, B.01.008 to B.01.010.4, B.24.018) · the same in French
• Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Canadian Food Compositional Standards, volume 2 (wine, honey wine, cider and beer)
• CFIA Industry Labelling Tool: Alcoholic beverages · List of ingredients and allergens · Allergen-free, gluten-free and precautionary statements