Hiring a certified translator is a small price to pay. In today’s highly competitive market, can brand owners afford to ignore and alienate French-speaking Canadians? Why should you hire a certified translator?Ĭonsidering the risks and opportunities, French labelling is not just a “nice to have”, it’s a “must have”. Over 6.8 million Canadians speak French most often at home, according to Statistics Canada 2011 Census. That’s about 20% of the population. Food importers should also take note, since they will be responsible for the safety of their products under Canada’s new Safe Food for Canadians Act (SFCA), coming into effect in 2015. If an allergen is not properly declared on the label (in English and French) it can cause illness, result in a recall, spark lawsuits and damage the brand’s reputation, sometimes taking years to recover. The second risk is allergen labelling, which must be taken seriously because it is a food safety issue. Quebec’s Charter of the French Language goes even further stating “Every inscription on a product… including directions for use… must be drafted in French” and “no inscription in another language may be given greater prominence than that in French.” Also included are package inserts and marketing materials such as brochures, catalogues, public signs, posters and commercial advertising. That means paying the costs of removing the product from the market, designing and printing new labels, re-labelling, re-distribution, reimbursing retailers and losing sales in the meantime.
Non-compliant labels can be recalled by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency ( CFIA). Canadian labelling regulations require mandatory information to be in English and French, with equal prominence. The first risk is regulatory non-compliance.
Not to mention the missed marketing opportunity – if consumers can’t read the label, they won’t buy the product. This presents several risks that can impact sales and profit for brand owners, distributors and importers. The market is flooded with packaged foods, mostly imported, without French (or even English) on the label.
Really? Have you ever heard a joke translated from another language? It’s not very funny if it’s a literal translation. An American brand owner planning to launch in the Canadian market, told me they don’t need a French translator for their labels because they can use Google.
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