Meat + Poultry - September 2005 - 18

Washington
Updating food standards
By Bernard Shire
meat&poultry@sosland.com

Do your customers ever ask, "When
are you going to make something
new?" Or, "My doctor says I need to
cut down on the amount of salt in my
diet, yet I don't want to stop eating
meat. Do you have any low-sodium
products?" Are you weary of making
the same old bologna? Would newer
products result in bigger profits?
If these thoughts have crossed your
mind, you're in luck. Thanks to a
change in the works by the U.S. Dept.
of Agriculture, and another already on
the books, altering products will be
easier in the future.
Earlier this year, the government
took two actions that will likely impact
the numbers and types of meat and
poultry products on the market. The
U.S.D.A.'s Food Safety and Inspection
Service approved a new regulation,
allowing processors to include nutri-

ent content claims in the names of
meat and poultry products. Even more
crucial, the Food and Drug Administration, along with F.S.I.S., proposed
a joint rule that would modernize the
standards of identity for food.
While much of the industry's attention during the past two years has
focused on bovine spongiform encephalopathy and international trade
problems, the massive changes in
food standards being proposed could
affect the industry in a much greater

way than B.S.E. Revising food standards and liberalizing nutrient content
claims could potentially revolutionize
the industry's fortunes.
The first change will help consumers maintain healthier diets when they
choose meat and poultry products
because processors will be able to
change the contents of the products
they manufacture, as long as they use
approved ingredients that can result in
healthier versions of traditional food
products. Processors will be able to do
this, even if the products have existing
"standards of identity" that normally
would be difficult or impossible to
change because of the standards' rigidity. The rule would allow the development of new standardized products, in
place of those that concern consumers
because they contain too much salt,
cholesterol and fat, especially saturated fat. Best of all, these nutrient
content claims could be used in the
product names, such as "low-sodium
turkey franks" and "low-fat sausage."
Technically, this new rule doesn't
go into effect until 2008, but companies can take advantage of the provisions immediately.
The idea behind the second piece
of rulemaking, actually a much bigger endeavor, is to get rid of the
rigid and cumbersome aspects of the
food standards of identity; thus, the
two regulations are related. Working
together, U.S.D.A. and F.D.A. are proposing to modernize the current food
standards of identity, which have been
around since 1940. Between U.S.D.A.
and F.D.A. more than 360 federal food
standards exist.
Standards of identity apply to many
foods. They define what a food product is, what it is called, and the ingredients that may, or must be used, in the
food. The standards' purpose originally was to ensure consumers "got
what they expected" when purchasing
certain foods. The idea behind standards was to not allow two different
kinds of food to be called the same

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thing. Under standards, the food must
contain minimum amounts of certain
ingredients, such as meat or poultry
to be called "meat" or "poultry." The
amount of water or fat contained in a
product is addressed by the standards.
Even how the food is processed, prepared and cooked is dictated.
But two changes in food manufacturing today call these traditional
standards of identity into question.
First, meat and poultry manufacturers
want to enhance their products in ways
not permitted by the old standards,
as well as using new food processing
technologies. Second is the movement
toward making healthier food products, changing ingredients in ways that
might even violate current standards.
F.S.I.S. administrator Dr. Barbara
Masters said the proposed U.S.D.A.F.D.A. rule "will likely encourage
the development of food products
with better nutritional profiles."
Changes to the current standards of
identity would allow the development
of food products geared to the needs
of today's consumers, as well as encouraging the use of new food processing and packaging technologies,
says Dr. Robert Brackett, director of
F.D.A.'s Center for Food Safety and
Applied Nutrition.
Under the joint rulemaking, the
government will decide whether to
change the standards, eliminate some
or all of them, or create new ones.
For poultry and meat processors, it
will open new possibilities and lead
to the creation of vast new numbers
of products.

Bernard Shire is a food safety
consultant for Shire & Associates in
Lancaster, Pa., and previously served
as director of legislative and regulatory
affairs for the American Association of
Meat Processors.
We would like to hear from you- your comments
and questions about this article are welcome.
E-mail the author at: meat&poultry@sosland.com

September 2005

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Meat + Poultry - September 2005

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