Source: Rita Jane Gabbett, MEATINGPLACE, 1/20/17


Consistent with the recent changes that the Food and Drug Administration finalized, USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service has published in the Federal Register proposed amendments to the nutrition labeling requirements for meat and poultry products.

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; and 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.

FSIS proposes revising the format and appearance of the Nutrition Facts label; amending the definition of a single-serving container; requiring dual-column labeling for certain containers; and updating and modifying several reference amounts customarily consumed (RACCs or reference amounts).

For example, FSIS is proposing to remove the requirement to declare "Calories from Fat"; require the declaration of "Added Sugars,'' vitamin D, and potassium; permit the voluntary declaration of vitamins A and C; and update the reference value for the declaration of percent Daily Value (DV) for sodium from the current value of 2,400 mg (milligrams) to 2,300 mg.

In terms of format and appearance of the Nutrition Facts label, some of the proposed changes include increasing the type size for "Calories,'' "servings per container,'' and the "Serving size'' declarations, and bolding the number of calories and the "Serving size'' declaration to highlight this information.

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