WASHINGTON — The effective date for the new nutrition labeling rule for meat and poultry products rule has been moved from Jan. 1, 2012, to March 1, according to constituent update by the United States Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service.
"The delay will ensure that industry has adequate time to comply with the requirements of the final rule," FSIS noted.
A coalition of food, farm and retail associations, which had requested this postponement of the labeling rule, commended FSIS for the postponement.
In a statement on the National Cattleman Beef Association’s website, the coalition noted that it has been working with FSIS since last year to understand the requirements, but it still has questions that need to be answered before implementation.
"Delaying the effective date for two months will give retailers and others in the food production chain additional time to implement labeling systems, to obtain necessary software and scales to properly label the products and to educate employees about the new requirements," the coalition said.
The coalition includes the American Lamb Board, the American Meat Institute, the Food Marketing Institute, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, the National Chicken Council, the National Grocers Association, the National Pork Board, The National Pork Producers Council and the National Turkey Federation.
