Health Canada Raises Juice Limits in Caffeinated Supplemented Beverages
Health Canada has updated the List of Permitted Supplemental Ingredients, allowing certain caffeinated supplemented beverages to contain up to 30% fruit or vegetable juice, purée, pulp, or nectar as of August 13, 2026. This change applies to water-based beverages containing added caffeine under item 1 of the List of Permitted Supplemented Food Categories and follows a safety review confirming the higher limit poses no additional risk.
Manufacturers can now choose to adopt the new 30% threshold or continue formulating below the original 25% limit. Because the amendment is permissive, there is no transition period and no requirement to reformulate existing products. However, brands that increase juice content must update their Supplemented Food Facts Table to reflect any changes in nutrient composition, serving size or other affected declarations.
The update does not alter existing labelling restrictions: terms such as “juice,” “purée,” “pulp” or “nectar” still cannot appear on the label for these supplemented beverages and all other conditions of use for caffeine entries must remain unchanged.
For suppliers, the higher juice limit opens the door to more flavourful and functional formulations while reinforcing the importance of accurate compliant labelling within Canada’s supplemented foods framework.
