Meat to Require Nutrition Labels, USDA Says

Nutrition labels will now be required on packages of ground or chopped meat or poultry sold in supermarkets, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Thursday.

This means that items like ground hamburger or turkey will now have to “have nutrition facts panels on their packages, just like the ones seen on most other foods at the grocery store,” wrote Dr. Elisabeth Hagen, the USDA Under Secretary for Food Safety.

The new rule also affects 40 of the most popular cuts of meat in the United States, including steaks, pork chops, lamb, chicken breasts, and others. If the nutrition facts aren’t on the package, they will be placed on posters or signs near the meat counter in supermarkets, Dr. Hagen said.

The labels include calories, fat, saturated fat, protein, iron, cholesterol, and sodium.

“More convenient access to this nutrition information” means that “consumers will no longer have to guess which products fit their diets,” Hagen said.