USDA Proposes Revisions to Nutritional Fact Panel for Meat and Poultry Products

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's  Food Safety and Inspection Service is proposing to amend the nutrition labeling regulations for meat and poultry products to parallel the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's final nutrition regulations, which were published on May 27, 2016. The proposed rule will improve the presentation of nutrition information to assist consumers in maintaining healthy dietary practices.  Specifically, FSIS is proposing to:Update the list of nutrients that are required or permitted to be declared;Provide updated Daily Reference Values (DRVs) and Reference Daily Intake (RDI) values that are based on current dietary recommendations from consensus reports;Amend the labeling requirements for foods represented or purported to be specifically for children under the age of 4 years and pregnant women and lactating women and establish nutrient reference values specifically for these population subgroups;Revise the format and appearance of the Nutrition Facts label;Amend the definition of a single-serving container;Require dual-column labeling for certain containers;Update and modify several reference amounts customarily consumed (RACCs or reference amounts); and Consolidate the nutrition labeling regulations for meat and poultry products into a new Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) part.