What is a common name?

A common name is the name by which a product is generally known by consumers. For example, the common name of pumpernickel would be “bread”.

The term “common name” is officially defined in the Food and Drug Regulations as one of three things:

  1. the name of a food printed in boldface type in the Food and Drug Regulations
  2. the name prescribed by any other regulation
  3. if the name of the food is not covered by 1 or 2, the name by which the food is generally known

Following the rules above, the common name for many beverage alcohol products is defined by the Food and Drug Regulations in Part B, Division 2. A standard of identity is set for many of these names.

What is a standard of identity?

A standard of identity sets out what ingredients a product must contain, which ingredients it may contain, and any requirements of manufacturing.

For example, “Whisky” is defined as “a potable alcoholic distillate obtained from a mash of cereal grain saccharified by diastase of malt or by other enzymes and fermented by the action of yeast”. It may contain caramel and flavouring. No other ingredients are allowed. If someone were to produce a whisky containing a dye, they would not be permitted to call the product “whisky”, since dye is not a permitted additive.

Standards of identity are set out in the Food and Drug Regulations. They may be identified by the symbol “[S]” following the product name in boldface type. As such, they are official common names for products and no other name can be substituted.

Beverage alcohol products with a standard of identity do not require ingredient lists; ingredient lists are optional. This is not true of most other products. For example, if you are selling a gift pack with gin and olives, the olives must have an ingredient list, despite the fact that there is a standard of identity for olives.

My product does not fall under a standard of identity. What should the common name be?

This depends on what the product is.

My product is a liqueur in Europe. Why can’t I call it “liqueur” in Canada?

In many countries around the world, liqueur is a standardised product, but in many cases the standards are different than Canadian standard of identity defined in the Food and Drug Regulations. If the product is labelled a “liqueur” in Canada, it must meet the Canadian standard. If it does not, a different common name must be used and an ingredient list is required.

Why is “Chardonnay” (or another grape varietal name) not an acceptable common name?

Although Chardonnay may be listed in a dictionary as a type of wine, “wine” is the standard of identity listed in boldface type in the Canadian Food and Drug Regulations. “Wine” is the only acceptable common name permitted (see “What is a common name?”).

Do I have to declare my wine as red or white?

No. The common name for wine is “wine”. It is acceptable to use “white wine”, “red wine”, “sparkling wine”, etc. provided that the product actually is as declared. Note that a “white Merlot” is not a white wine but more a rosé wine. If a wine is over 14.9% alc./vol., it may be called “fortified wine” (if it is fortified) or “liqueur wine” (if it is not fortified).

Why is my declaration of “beer” wrong as a common name?

There are two possibilities:

  1. The alcohol level is not 4.1 to 5.5 % alc./vol. In this case, the product must be named consistent with the alcohol level.
  1. The product does not meet the standard of identity for beer. This is likely because any added fruit, spice, herbs or flavourings are ingredients. These ingredients place the product in the category of unstandardised products. An acceptable common name may include the word “beer”, such as “flavoured beer”, “spiced beer” or “beer brewed with fruit”. Such products also require an ingredient list. Ensure that there is no declaration on the product of “beer/bière”. Also ensure that the correct beer alcohol strength term is used as part of the name.