Nutrition Labels for Ground Meat Proposed

Ground meat and poultry will carry nutrition labels similar to those already required on soup cans, cereal boxes and other processed-food packages under rules the Clinton administration proposed Friday. For fresh meat cuts such as beef steaks and pork tenderloin, nutrition information could be either on package labels or posted in the supermarket meat case. The U.S. Department of Agriculture will take public comments on the labeling rules before they are made final, until April 18, and the final decision on the rules will be up to the incoming Bush administration. Many stores and processors already provide the labels voluntarily, but President Clinton said in May that they ought to become mandatory. It is one of a series of food safety and nutrition initiatives that the administration has taken in its final year. Last week, the Agriculture Department said it would require processors to start disclosing the water content of raw chicken. Clinton also has ordered new testing requirements for listeria, a pathogen in processed meats. The Food and Drug Administration has proposed expanding nutrition labels on processed foods to include artery-clogging trans-fatty acids, a common ingredient in baked goods.