In an effort to further connect consumers to farmers, the United State Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service announced new regulations for nutritional information on meat packages.
Information will be more readily available on 40 popular cuts of meat and poultry according to a press release. The new rule required packages of ground or chopped meat and poultry to contain nutrition fact panels on the sides of packaging. This will allow consumers to see what they are purchasing at the point-of-sale.
“More and more, busy American families want nutrition information that they can quickly and easily understand,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack via news release. “We need to do all we can to provide nutrition labels that will help consumers make informed decisions. The USDA and the Department of Health and Human Services work hard to provide the Dietary Guidelines for Americans every five years, and now consumers will have another tool to help them follow these guidelines.”
The panels will include similar information to other grocery items including the number of calories, grams of total and saturated fat.
The new regulations will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2012.
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Written by:  Melissa Warner, Farm Plus Staff Writer