Source:  Lisa M. Keefe, MEATINGPLACE.COM, 12/30/10

The USDA’s Food Service and Inspection Service (FSIS) estimates that the average annual cost of complying with its new final rule on including nutritional labels on meat and poultry products would be between $10.5 million and $10.9 million a year for the next 20 years, according to a notice in the Federal Register explaining the rule.

So the total average present value of the total cost over 20 years would be between $156.7 million and $115.4 million, depending on the economic assumptions that are underlying the projections, according to the agency.

There are avenues to complying with the rule that would be less costly: For point-of-purchase nutrition information for major cuts of single-ingredient raw products, the annual average costs are estimated to be between $1.3 million and $1.32 million.

The costs compare favorably with the estimated benefits, however. The agency estimates that the average value of the benefits of the new law is between about $800 million and $1.4 billion. Annually, FSIS estimates that the rule would produce average benefits of between $75.5 million and $91.3 million. The monetized value of the benefits includes the value of lives saved by the new nutritional labeling laws.
FSIS concludes, in its Federal Register notice, “The projected annualized average net present values of costs of the rule's nutrition labeling requirements appear to be justified by the larger projected annualized average net present values of benefits.”

Reaction to the rule
Various industry organizations and legislators released their reactions to the rule after its publication in the Federal Register on Wednesday.

“NCBA supports nutrition labeling on beef products and is pleased to see USDA moving forward with this effort,” said National Cattlement’s Beef Association Executive Director of Legislative Affairs Kristina Butts, in a release. “We wish USDA would have granted our request for an 18-to-24-month implementation period, [but] we are hopeful USDA will work with industry to find the least disruptive and most cost effective way to implement the rule.”

And Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), Chairwoman of the FDA and Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee, said, “This new rule is an important step forward in helping consumers make informed choices about what they feed their families. Our country is facing an obesity epidemic, and if we are to make any progress against this problem, it is critical that consumers have access to nutrition information about the foods they buy at restaurants and at grocery stores.”

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