Why do some meat and poultry products have a Nutritional Facts label while others do not?
All meat and poultry food products that are cooked, processed or have more than one ingredient must carry a Nutrition Facts panel under Federal regulations. Currently, single-ingredient, raw poultry and meat products are not required to have a Nutrition Facts Panel on packages but are covered by a voluntary nutrition labeling program which has been in use for the past 10 years. Many grocery stores provide this information by posting signs or by having the information readily available in brochures, notebooks, or leaflet form. Many fresh meat and poultry products are cut and packaged at the grocery store and not at a centralized processing facility. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) created the voluntary labeling program so that small grocery stores (such as convenience stores and “mom and pop” type stores) would be spared the cost of printing fresh meat and poultry labels and applying them accurately to the products. In the near future, USDA will require that all grocery stores
