Natural Health Products and Gluten Warnings

We have been informed of a change to the introduction of new natural health products and the time they must comply with the new clear label requirements which includes standardized gluten and allergen labelling

What are Natural Health Products?

According to Health Canada, “Natural health products (NHPs) are naturally occurring substances that are used to restore or maintain good health. They are often made from plants, but can also be made from animals, microorganisms, and marine sources. They come in a wide variety of forms like tablets, capsules, tinctures, solutions, creams, ointments, and drops. Many everyday consumer products, like certain toothpaste, antiperspirants, shampoos, facial products, and mouthwashes are also classified as natural health products in Canada.”[1]

Natural health products often called “complementary” or “alternative” medicines, include:

vitamins and minerals
herbal remedies
homeopathic medicines
traditional medicines like traditional Chinese and Ayurvedic (East Indian) medicines
probiotics
other products like amino acids and essential fatty acids

After significant lobbying by the Natural Health Product sector, Health Canada and the Minister of Health has made an exemption order to the new regulations to allow for all natural health product companies the choice to either comply with the new rules after June 21, 2025 or be ready no later than June 22, 2028, to comply with the new labelling requirements.

For consumers, this means you will most likely see a delay in your stores easier to identify gluten-free labels. There may be some new products that have made the change now. The industry needs more time to comply.

Under the new regulations, allergen, gluten and sulphite will be listed under WARNINGS in the Product Facts table (see sample). Just as with food labels, the gluten source needs to be declared. In the case of NHP, any allergen, gluten or sulfite sources would be in BOLD.

As stated by Health Canada, “If defatted wheat germ protein is used as an ingredient, the name gluten, in bold, must appear after the heading Allergen, followed by the word (wheat) in brackets, also in bold. For example, if the product contains milk, wheat, and sulfites, the statement must appear as follows: Allergen: gluten (wheat), milk, sulfites.

It is important to note that, precautionary allergen labelling is not required unless there is a concern that there is a probability of the product containing trace elements of an allergen (e.g. include “may contain wheat” if there is a potential for cross-contamination).