FSIS Issues Final Generic Meat Labeling Rules
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Services (FSIS) has issued a final rule amending the meat and poultry products inspection regulations “to expand the circumstances in which FSIS will generically approve the labels of meat and poultry products.” Effective January 6, 2014, the final rule will also consolidate the regulations governing meat and poultry product label approvals under a new Code of Federal Regulations part.
Under the new regulations, FSIS will still require establishments to submit for evaluation certain types of labeling, “e.g., labels for temporary approval, labels for products produced under religious exemption, labels for products for export with labeling deviations, and labels with claims and special statements.” In particular, FSIS will continue to review the following special statements and claims: (i) “[c]laims relating a product’s nutrient content to a health or a disease condition”; (ii) “statements that identify a product as ‘organic’ or containing organic ingredients”; (iii) “claims that are undefined in FSIS regulations or the Food Standards and Labeling Policy Book, e.g., claims regarding the raising of animals, such as ‘no antibiotics administered’ or ‘vegetarian fed’”; (iv) “instructional or disclaimer statements concerning pathogens, e.g., ‘for cooking only’ or ‘not tested for E. coli O157:H7’”; and (v) “statements that identify a product as ‘natural.’”
The new rules, however, will no longer require prior review and approval for statements and claims “that are defined in FSIS’s regulations or the Food Standards and Labeling Policy Book, except for ‘natural’ and negative claims.” These claims include those that characterize a product’s nutrient content (e.g., “low fat”), have a geographic significance (e.g., “Italian Style”) or make a country-of-origin statement on covered commodities. In addition, child-nutrition boxes and allergen statements applied in accordance with the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act will not be regarded as special statements or claims requiring sketch approval.
“When this rule becomes effective, labels that do not qualify for generic approval will receive first priority for review,” concludes FSIS. “Labels that do qualify for generic approval will receive a lower or second priority.” Additional details about the draft version of the final rule appear in Issue 420 of this Update. See Federal Register, November 7, 2013.
