Nutrition labels on cuts of meat to debut in 2012

ground beef, which will be required under new federal rules.">By Elizabeth Weise, USA TODAY

Those familiar nutrition labels found on everything from soda to cereal to mayonnaise will also be required on meats beginning Jan. 1, 2012, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Wednesday.

The new labels will list calories, calories from fat, total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium, protein and vitamins for 40 of the most commonly purchased cuts of beef, poultry, pork and lamb, according to an early look at the labels provided to USA TODAY. The new rules will be published today in the Federal Register.

Federal officials say they hope the labels will make Americans as conscious about health choices in the meats they buy as they have become in scouring labels on other packaged food products.

"This will be very helpful to people who are bewildered by what's in meat," says Marion Nestle, a professor of nutrition at New York University. "But people will be quite shocked at the calories and fat."

A 4-ounce serving of regular ground beef that is 73% lean meat, for example, contains 350 calories, 270 of them from fat, according to the USDA, making up 60% of the suggested daily intake of saturated fat in a 2,000-calorie diet.

The labels will help consumers "make sure they are doing right by their families as they prepare meals," Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says.

"There's a growing concern about the growing problem of obesity. So I think it is appropriate for us to provide as much concrete information to consumers as we possibly can, without overwhelming them, so they can make good solid decisions about how many calories they're consuming and how much activity they need," Vilsack says.

Nutrition Facts labels were first required on many foods in 1993, but meat wasn't included except under a voluntary provision. By publishing the rule in the Federal Register, the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service has begun the process of making them mandatory. The labels either will need to be attached to meat packages or made available to consumers at the point of purchase.

"These labels have been a long time coming," says Michael Jacobson of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a Washington D.C.-based consumer advocacy group. "It's been 10 years."

The labels will bring some "pleasant surprises" at the meat case, says Mark Dopp of the American Meat Institute, an industry trade group that is not opposed to the labels. Many consumers don't fully appreciate "the many lean choices in the meat case," he says. A 3.5-ounce serving of skinless, boneless chicken breast has 165 calories and a 3.5-ounce serving of beef eye or round roast has 166.

The cost of labeling will be minor, no more than half a penny per pound, Vilsack says.

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