Federal rules published in 2010 require specific meat and poultry products to carry new nutrition information starting January 2, 2012. USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced that the new rules will make important nutrition information readily available to consumers on 40 of the most popular cuts of meat and poultry. Two timely data sets provided by the Agricultural Research Service’s Nutrient Data Laboratory (NDL) in Beltsville, Maryland, are being used by the beef and pork industries to provide the new Nutrition Facts labels for their products.
Previously, NDL researchers, in collaboration with representatives of the beef and pork industries and various universities, conducted several studies designed to update and expand the available nutrient data on current beef and pork cuts and products. The results led to a major update of beef and pork nutrient data in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference Release 24. Called “SR24” for short, the database is the major authoritative source of information about U.S. food composition. The study results have also been incorporated into two downloadable data sets.
SR24 includes more than 7,500 food items and is managed by NDL, which is part of the ARS Beltsville [Maryland] Human Nutrition Research Center. NDL is headed by research leader Joanne Holden