Under a new U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service rule, packages of ground or chopped poultry and meat, such as ground turkey or hamburger, will now feature nutrition facts panels on their labels.
Additionally, 40 of the most popular whole, raw cuts of poultry and meat, such as chicken breast or steak, will also have nutritional information either on the package labels or on display to consumers at the store. The rule went into effect on March 1.
The nutrition facts panels will list the number of calories and the grams of total fat and saturated fat that a product contains. Additionally, a ground or chopped product that includes on its label a lean percentage statement, such as "85% lean," and is not considered "low in fat" also will list its fat percentage, making it easier for consumers to understand the amounts of lean and fat content in a particular product.
“While most chicken companies selling fresh products to retail outlets have for several years voluntarily labeled much of their products with nutritional information, this new labeling rule will allow consumers to more fully appreciate the sound nutritional value that chicken offers,” said Tom Super, National Chicken Council vice president of communications. “The National Chicken Council encourages food shoppers to use this nutrition information on meat and poultry products to help better select the options that are best for their families and their dietary needs.”
The Federal Register notice announcing this rule was published on Dec. 29, 2010.
