Natural, homemade, artisan, local, organic: what a Canadian food brand can call itself

CFIA's guidance says a food can be described as natural when it and its ingredients contain no added vitamin, mineral nutrient, artificial flavouring agent or food additive, have had no constituent removed or significantly changed except for the removal of water, and have been through no process that significantly altered their original physical, chemical or biological state.

The Agency describes this as guidance with room for an outcome based approach, and it adds a line every founder choosing a name should read: the same approach applies to the use of the word natural in a trademark name. A hypothetical brand called Natural Harvest would carry the claim on every pack.

Homemade, in CFIA's words, describes a food that is prepared outside commercial production. The guidance then closes the route most small brands try: using a brand name or trademark symbol together with homemade is considered misleading if the food is prepared in a commercial establishment, including small, artisan like establishments. Homemade style, home style and like homemade remain available.

Artisan made describes products manufactured in small batches, with a significant portion of manual labour and limited use of automated machines. The claim is about method, so a brand that scales into automated production outgrows the word. Artisan style should be qualified.

CFIA recognises local food as food produced in the province or territory in which it is sold, or food sold across provincial borders within 50 km of the originating province or territory. A Manitoba jam sold in Vancouver is outside that definition, whatever the label feels like.

Fresh is acceptable for food that has been neither processed nor preserved. Brand and company names containing fresh are acceptable when it stays clear to the shopper that fresh is part of the brand and makes no statement about the product itself.

Organic is the one word in this list backed by regulation. Under Part 13 of the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations, only products with organic content of 95% or more may be labelled or advertised as organic or carry the Canada Organic logo, and CFIA notes this includes the word organic in the name of the person responsible for the product. A hypothetical company called Prairie Organic Foods would be making the claim in its name.

Products with 70% to under 95% organic content may state contains x% organic ingredients, without the logo. Below 70%, organic may appear only in the ingredient list. 100% organic is an unpermitted claim, and made with organic ingredients is unacceptable. Imported products and those traded between provinces must be certified under the Canada Organic Regime; products sold only within one province fall outside Part 13 unless they carry the logo, though provincial rules may apply.

Founders reach for these words because shoppers respond to them, which is exactly why they are regulated. A name built on natural, homemade, local or organic turns the brand's most permanent asset into a claim it must keep proving as recipes, suppliers and markets change.

The stronger route is a distinctive name with the claim carried beside it, where it can change when the facts do. Let the name hold the memory and the label hold the claim: a place, a person or an image for the brand, and small batch, organic certified or made in Nova Scotia on the pack when each is true.