Important changes to Informed Dining program

Published January 10, 2020

The B.C. government has decided to discontinue its Informed Dining program for commercial foodservice businesses, which was introduced in 2012 as a way for participating establishments to provide diners with nutritional information.

However, the program will continue to be mandated for all retail foodservice establishments located within healthcare facilities owned or operated by a B.C. health authority.

Action required by Informed Dining participants

Informed Dining participants operating outside of a healthcare facility have been notified by mail and are required to remove Informed Dining Program Marks and B.C. government identification by no later than June 30, 2020. This time frame has been determined to allow an opportunity, wherever possible, for foodservice establishments to align the removal of Program Marks with regular updates to their menus and menu boards.

Key takeaways and next steps

Restaurants Canada is proud of the role it has played working closely with the B.C. government to develop and promote the Informed Dining program as a member of the program’s advisory committee.

Since its launch in 2012, the Informed Dining program has had significant uptake across British Columbia and nationally, with more than 11,000 establishments currently participating across Canada.

Although uptake of the program has been strong, both internal evaluations and independent research have shown that public awareness of the program in the private sector remains low, which is why the B.C. government has decided to discontinue the program for establishments not operating in healthcare facilities.

Foodservice businesses are still welcome to display nutritional information based on the Informed Dining program framework (as long as no references to the Informed Dining program or B.C. government are associated with the information displayed).

Restaurants Canada looks forward to continuing to work with the B.C. government, building on the constructive relationship developed as a result of this program, in support of the province’s public health objectives.

If you have any questions or would like more information, you can get in touch with Mark von Schellwitz, Restaurants Canada Vice President, Western Canada, at mark@restaurantscanada.org.

Restaurants Canada Digital

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