Canadian beverage companies will put prominent labels on the front of their non-alcoholic drinks, showing how many calories are in a can or bottle.

Currently, information about calories is printed on the back of beverage containers.

The companies say the move is part of an industry-wide push to help people better understand how many calories they consume when drinking soft drinks, juices, fruit-based drinks, sports drinks and bottled waters.

Canada Dry Mott's, Coca-Cola Refreshments Canada, Cott Beverages Canada, Nestlé Waters Canada and PepsiCo Beverages Canada made the announcement in Vancouver on Tuesday.

A high school student drinks in front of a Coke machine in the school cafeteria at Eric Hamber School in Vancouver. Canadian beverage companies say they will put prominent calorie labels on the buttons of vending machines by the end of 2013. A high school student drinks in front of a Coke machine in the school cafeteria at Eric Hamber School in Vancouver. Canadian beverage companies say they will put prominent calorie labels on the buttons of vending machines by the end of 2013. (CP PHOTO/Chuck Stoody)

The new front-facing labels will begin appearing on store shelves by the middle of this year. By the end of 2013, the companies say their drink vending machines will display calorie counts per container on selection buttons, or nearby if it's not possible to print the information on the button.

But some experts, such as Vancouver-based obesity specialist Dr. Ali Zentner, question how effective the move will be. Dr. Zentner says the problem is that many consumers don't know how many calories is too much.

P.O.V.:

Would larger calorie-count labels on soda encourage you to make healthier choices?

"It's marketing, complete marketing because now they (the companies) can say, 'Look, we're healthy,'" she said. "Most North Americans have no concept of what they should be consuming. What does it really mean that a bottle of pop is 200 calories and how much of that is significant in a person's daily life?"

Dr. Jean-Pierre Chanoine, a pediatric endocrinologist with the Vancouver-based Childhood Obesity Foundation, says even cigarette packages with graphic health warning labels have not significantly decreased the consumption of tobacco.

Instead, he says, decreases in smoking rates are because of an increase in the price of cigarettes. "I think we'll have to follow the same route for sugar-sweetened beverages," he said.