Food Safety and Inspection Service United States Department of Agriculture Washington, D.C. 20250-3700

Backgrounders

January 2001

Nutrition Labeling Proposed
for Raw Meat and Poultry Products

Summary

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service is proposing to extend mandatory nutrition labeling to single-ingredient raw meat and poultry products, which are currently covered only under the voluntary nutrition labeling program. Nutrition information for major cuts such as chicken breasts, whole turkeys, and steaks would be required either on their labels or at their point of purchase. Nutrition information for ground or chopped products such as ground beef, pork, and turkey would be required on package labels. Extending mandatory nutrition labeling to these products will help consumers make food purchasing decisions that may help to improve diet quality.

The proposal also would allow industry to continue to use the "percent lean" nutrient content claim for ground or chopped meat or poultry products that do not meet the criteria for low fat. Many ground and chopped products have difficulty meeting the criteria for "low fat."

The proposal will publish in the Federal Register on Jan. 18. Comments should be sent by April 18 to the FSIS Docket Clerk, Docket 98-005P, Food Safety and Inspection Service, Room 102, Cotton Annex, 300 12^th Street, SW, Washington, DC 20250-3700. Comments received will be available for public viewing in the FSIS Docket Room from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Background

The Nutrition Labeling and Education Act of 1990 required nutrition labeling of most foods regulated by the Food and Drug Administration. On January 6, 1993, FSIS published final regulations requiring comparable nutrition labeling requirements, with certain exemptions, for multi-ingredient and heat processed meat and poultry products such as hot dogs and luncheon meats.

FSIS also established guidelines for voluntary nutrition labeling of single-ingredient, raw meat and poultry products, including those that are ground and chopped. Retailers and manufacturers voluntarily provide nutrition information on the labels of these products or at their point-of-purchase. The final regulations published by FSIS also specified that the Agency would evaluate the participation of retailers in the voluntary program every two years to determine if participation was adequate. If participation fell below 60 percent, the Agency indicated it would initiate rulemaking to require nutrition labeling for these products. The two most recent surveys show that less than 60 percent of companies evaluated are providing nutrition information for the major cuts of single-ingredient, raw products. The 1996 figure was 57.7 percent, and the 1999 figure was 54.8 percent.

The Proposal

FSIS is proposing to require nutrition information on product labels or point-of-purchase materials for major cuts of single-ingredient, raw meat and poultry products such as chicken breasts, turkeys, or steaks. The proposal also requires nutrition labeling on the packages of all ground or chopped meat and poultry products, such as hamburger, ground beef, ground beef patties, ground chicken, ground turkey, and ground chicken patties. Certain exemptions would apply to these requirements. Small businesses that qualify for the existing small business exemption from nutrition labeling requirements would be exempt from nutrition labeling requirements for ground or chopped products. However, the small business exemption would not apply to the major cuts of single-ingredient, raw products.

For the major cuts of meat and poultry products, nutrition information could be provided either on the package or at their point-of-purchase because consumers have reasonable expectations as to the nutrient content of these products. For ground or chopped products, however, nutrition labeling would be required on the package. Point-of-purchase labeling would not be permitted for ground or chopped products in order to make the nutrition labeling requirements for these products consistent with those for multi-ingredient and heat processed products, which have been covered under mandatory nutrition labeling requirements since 1993. Single-ingredient, raw ground or chopped meat and poultry products differ from other single-ingredient, raw meat and poultry products because, in these products, certain parameters, such as their fat content, can be controlled precisely to obtain the desired product. In addition, FSIS has found that the nutrient and fat content of ground or chopped products varies so significantly that, without labeling, consumers could not assess the nutritional quality of these products to make informed comparisons.

The nutrition label would be comparable to that which appears on products today. The proposed requirements for the labels of major cuts are consistent with the current provisions of the voluntary nutrition labeling program, and the proposed requirements for the labels of ground or chopped products are consistent with the requirements for the labels on multi-ingredient or heat processed products. For example, FSIS is proposing that the nutrition information on labels of the major cuts be calculated on an "as packaged" or "as consumed" basis, while nutrition information of labels of ground or chopped products would be calculated on an "as packaged" basis.

SAMPLE LABEL IN CURRENT FORMAT

For More Information:
Technical questions: Dr. Robert Post, Director, Labeling and Additives Policy Division, Office of Policy, Program Development, and Evaluation (202) 205-0279
Media inquiries: (202) 720-9113
Congressional inquiries: (202) 720-3897
Constituent inquiries: (202) 720-8594
Consumer inquiries: Call USDA’s Meat and Poultry area, call (202) 720-3333. The TTY number is 1-800-256-7072.
FSIS Web site: http://www.fsis.usda.gov

For Further Information Contact:
FSIS Congressional and Public Affairs Staff
Phone: (202) 720-3897
Fax: (202) 720-5704

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