On February 19, 2025, Health Canada proposed to transfer the “Maximum Levels for Ethyl Carbamate in Alcoholic Beverages” from List of Maximum Levels for Various Chemical Contaminants in Foods to the List of Contaminants and Other Adulterating Substances in Foods.
The document summarizes the following:
- Ethyl carbamate limits are being moved to a regulatory list for enforcement under Division 15 of the Food and Drug Regulations;
- Beverage categories are updated, renaming "table wine" as "wines”, “fruit brandies and liqueurs" as "distilled spirits from fruit";
- Sweet wines with over 60 g/L sugar have 100 ppb limit instead of 30 ppb;
- Pre-1995 vintage wines and fortified wines have higher limits (100 ppb and 400 ppb) due to historically higher contamination;
- Changes will be enforced by Canadian Food Inspection Agency upon publication.
The Consultation is open for public comments till May 5, 2025.
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