Nutrition Labeling for Raw Meat, Poultry Products Begins January 1, 2012

(I read this article and felt it important to repost it here for those of you who are thinking about direct marketing meat.  As a producer you will need to add these items to your meat label beginning in 2012.  debi kelly)


In December 2010, you may have heard that nutrition labels were going to be required for meat products. Well I have sorted through the rules and regulations to bring you the facts and details.

As many of you may know, the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act (NLEA) of 1990 required nutrition labeling of most foods regulated by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration). Now the FSIS (Food Safety and Inspection Service) has amended the federal meat and poultry products inspection regulations to require labeling of major meat cuts and ground meat products (with and without seasoning). The current regulations require nutrition labels on the packages of all multi-ingredient and heat processed meat and poultry products.

The USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture) feels that as part of the continuing efforts to educate consumers about diets and nutrition, the labeling of meat is a step forward to helping them make healthy diet choices. The nutrition facts will either be made available at the Point of Purchase (POP) or they will be included on the label for major meat cuts. For ground meat products, the label has to be affixed to the product package. Product packages that do not bear a label will be considered “misbranded”. FSIS also stated that products without nutrition labeling information of these products, they will be considered misleading and false because it does not provide consumers with sufficient information.

On the label for the major meat cuts, consumers are given a rough indication of the fat content; but due to the fact there is so much variability within a product, the specific nutrient information and the serving size per container will not be available. Manufacturers will instead use data from the USDA’s National Nutrient Data Bank or the USDA’s National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference. Meaning all skinless chicken breasts will have similar nutrition information, all chuck roasts will have similar nutritional data, it will not be specific to each individual piece of meat – it will be an average. On the other hand, FSIS recognizes that it is easier to obtain the nutrition information for ground products; all ground or chopped product will indicate the precise fat content.

Small businesses are exempt from the ground meat rules if the products are produced at a facility that employees less than 500 persons and produces no more than 100,000 pounds of a particular product per year. Small businesses will still be expected to provide nutrient information for major cuts of meat at the POP (note: FSIS is making POP materials available on the internet free of charge).

Start looking for the nutrient information on major meat cuts and ground meat products – they will be coming to stores near you!
(by Lindsay Chichester, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension Educator)